Showing posts with label Portland Maine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portland Maine. Show all posts

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Maine Police Officers Ran Marathon in Uniform

Portland Police Officers Run Half Marathon in Full Uniform
WMTV News
By David Charns
July 9, 2016

PORTLAND, Maine —Two Portland police officers ran Saturday's Old Port Half Marathon in full uniform.

Officers Brent Abbott and Thomas Kwok finished the 13.1-mile race in about 2 1/2 hours, the department wrote on its Twitter page.

Abbott also ran the race in full uniform last year.

The officers raised $1,200 for K9s On The Front Line, the Amy St. Laurent Foundation/Portland Police R.A.D. Program.

Earlier this year, Portland police had asked the department’s Facebook fans to choose between the two groups, but ultimately decided to split the donations.
read more here

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Portland summit on post-traumatic stress disorder

Fighting war's hidden wounds

By Daniel Hartill , Staff Writer
Sunday, June 8, 2008

Veterans, therapists gather in Portland for summit on post-traumatic stress disorder

PORTLAND - Soldiers scarred with post-traumatic stress disorder can get better. The reason: The human brain can sometimes heal itself if given help.

"The brain is resilient," said Rosemary Masters, the director of the trauma studies center of the Institute for Contemporary Therapy in New York City. "I know that a lot can be done to reduce the severity of PTSD."

One-on-one counseling, carefully prescribed medicine and a variety of relaxation techniques can all aid someone who is coping with hidden war wounds, she said

The most successful treatments seem to be accompanied by a brain that relearns how to store memories so that they are less destructive, the nationally known therapist told about 75 people Saturday at a statewide summit on post-traumatic stress disorder.

Nowhere else can the recovery take place, she said.

"Terror wounds the brain, just as bullets wound the body," Masters said.

The disorder takes place because of exposure to trauma, events so tough to endure that the body chemistry is affected.

For soldiers in war, the likelihood that they will develop the disorder, or a related symptom such as depression, goes up with every traumatic experience, Masters said. Eventually, it can be too much.
go here for more
http://www.sunjournal.com/story/269143-3/LewistonAuburn/Fighting_wars_hidden_wounds/