ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre

Background

Much remains unknown about the course of grief in the early months following bereavement, including the prevalence and timing of a recovery trajectory, whether specific symptoms mark a failure to recover, and the co-occurrence of chronic prolonged grief (PG), posttraumatic stress (PTS) and depression symptoms.

Methods

A growing body of research demonstrates the association between neighborhood context and health. The underlying biological mechanisms of this association are not fully understood. We conducted a systematic review of studies that investigated the association between neighborhood context and telomere length (TL), a DNA-protein complex that shortens after cell division. Short TL is linked to age-related diseases and may be impacted by chronic stress. Nineteen eligible articles identified through PubMed and Scopus met inclusion criteria.

Purpose
This study aims to focus on the avoidance and anxiety attachment patterns among unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) after resettlement in Norway. The authors explored the extent of stability and change in these attachment patterns and the role of demographic and interpersonal predictors of change in levels of attachment insecurity.

Objective: Findings on the relationship between social support and mental health problems after potentially traumatic events vary across studies. Aim of our longitudinal study is to assess to what extent initial postdisaster mental health, somatic, and social functioning problems affect social support 1.5 years later. This is relevant for the discussion about social causation versus social selection processes.

Background: Recent evidence showed adverse mental health outcomes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including trauma-related symptoms. The Global Psychotrauma Screen (GPS) is a brief instrument designed to assess a broad range of trauma-related symptoms with no available validation in the Italian population.

Background. Research exploring the longitudinal course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms has documented four modal trajectories (low, remitting, high, and delayed), with proportions varying across studies. Heterogeneity could be due to differences in trauma types and patient demographic characteristics.

BACKGROUND 

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is newly included in the text revision of the DSM-5 (DSM-5-TR). So far, it is unknown if DSM-5-TR PGD is distinguishable from bereavement-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior research examining the distinctiveness of PTSD and pathological grief focused on non-traumatic loss samples, used outdated conceptualizations of grief disorders, and has provided mixed results.

OBJECTIVE 

Introduction: Military members and Veterans are at risk of developing combat-related, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (TR-PTSD) and moral injury (MI). Conventional trauma-focused therapies (TFTs) have shown limited success. Novel interventions including Multi-modal Motion-assisted Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation therapy (3MDR) may prove successful in treating TR-PTSD.

Objective: To qualitatively study the experiences of Canadian military members and Veterans with TR-PTSD who received the 3MDR intervention.

The human circadian system creates and maintains cellular and systemic rhythmicity essential for the temporal organization of physiological processes promoting homeostasis and environmental adaptation. Sleep disruption and loss of circadian rhythmicity fundamentally affects master homeostasic regulating systems at the crossroads of peripheral and central susceptibility pathways, similar to acute or chronic stress and, thus, may play a central role in the development of stress-related disorders.

With the application of virtual reality (VR), tailored interventions can be created that mirror the traumatic experiences of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Visual elements can be mimicked, and auditory and other senses stimulated. In doing so, the degree of immersion can be adjusted to optimize the therapeutic process.