Improving the understanding and treatment of complex grief: an important issue for psychotraumatology

In the Netherlands, every year 500,000 people are confronted with the death of a close relative. Many of these people experience little emotional distress. In some, bereavement precipitates severe grief, distress, and dysphoria.

A small yet significant minority of bereaved individuals develops persistent and debilitating symptoms of persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) (also termed prolonged grief disorder), posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression.

Knowledge about early identification of, and preventive care for complex grief has increased.

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Tonic immobility differentiates stress responses in PTSD

Abstract

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Concerns Over Divergent Approaches in the Diagnostics of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

ABSTRACT Since the inception of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition (DSM-III), there has been an ongoing polemic debate about the veracity, assessment, neurobiology, and longitudinal course of the disorder. As a consequence, its clinical utility has been the subject of a significant amount of conflicting opinion due to the competing interests involving clinicians, insurance companies, victim’s groups, and governments.

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Fatty acid concentrations in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder compared to healthy controls.

 

Background

Although fatty acid (FA)-supplementation studies are currently being implemented, in fact little is known about FA-profiles in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, the present study aimed at comparing FA-concentrations between PTSD-patients and healthy controls.

 

Methods

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Broken and guilty since it happened : A population study of trauma-related shame and guilt after violence and sexual abuse

 

Background

There is increasing interest in trauma-related shame and guilt. However, much remains unknown in terms of how these emotions relate to the type of event, gender and mental health. We investigated shame and guilt in men and women following various types of severe violence and their relation to mental health.

 

Methods

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Is it Trauma- or Fantasy-based? Comparing dissociative identity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, simulators, and controls

Objective: The Trauma Model of dissociative identity disorder (DID) posits that DID is etiologically related to chronic neglect and physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood. In contrast, the Fantasy Model posits that DID can be simulated and is mediated by high suggestibility, fantasy proneness, and sociocultural influences. To date, these two models have not been jointly tested in individuals with DID in an empirical manner.

 

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Course and Predictors of Postdeployment Fatigue : A Prospective Cohort Study in the Dutch Armed Forces.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine course and predictors of fatigue in military personnel deployed to Afghanistan.

 

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Culture-sensitive psychotraumatology

Background: Although there is some evidence of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) construct’s cross cultural validity, trauma-related disorders may vary across cultures, and the same may be true for treatments that address such conditions. Experienced therapists tailor psychotherapy to each patient’s particular situation, to the nature of the patient’s psychopathology, to the stage of therapy, and so on.

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The case of refugees : A case of social bonds.

Having worked with many refugees, Pim Scholte explains the human side of the refugee crisis from the point of view of a psychiatrist. This april  Pim Scholte at the Academiegebouw of the University of Utrecht held a TED talk under the titel: 'The case of refugees. A case of social bonds'. The presentation is part of a yearly series, organised by University colledge Utrecht.

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Armed-conflict risks enhanced by climate-related disasters in ethnically fractionalized countries

Social and political tensions keep on fueling armed conflicts around the world. Although each conflict is the result of an individual context-specific mixture of interconnected factors, ethnicity appears to play a prominent and almost ubiquitous role in many of them. This overall state of affairs is likely to be exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change and in particular climate-related natural disasters. Ethnic divides might serve as predetermined conflict lines in case of rapidly emerging societal tensions arising from disruptive events like natural disasters.

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