When Will We Stop Paying For PTSD Lab Rats?

Gee do you think if they stop studying rats they may actually learn something about humans with PTSD? It is a hell of a lot more complicated than fear!

“This study, done using a mouse model, expands our understanding of how associative fear memory for a relevant context is encoded in the brain,” said Cho, the lead author of the study and a member of the UCR School of Medicine’s Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions, “and could inform the development of novel therapeutics to reduce pathological fear in PTSD.”

read more of this here

Was Pot Study for PTSD Designed to Fail?

Hopkins was ready to test pot as a treatment for PTSD. Then it quit the study
Washington Post
By Aaron Gregg
March 31 at 3:43 PM

One of the lead researchers from MAPS recently did just that, in a PBS report that said the government-grown marijuana provided for the study was of poor quality and contaminated with mold. Hopkins quit the study two days later.

Marijuana provided by the federal government to a team of researchers studying whether the drug should be used to treat veterans with PTSD. (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies)

Eighteen months after joining a study on using marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, Johns Hopkins University has pulled out without enrolling any veterans, the latest setback for the long-awaited research.

A Johns Hopkins spokeswoman said the university’s goals were no longer aligned with those of the administrator of the study, the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). A spokesman for MAPS said the dispute was over federal drug policy and whether to openly challenge federal rules that say medical cannabis research must rely on marijuana grown by the federal National Institute on Drug Abuse.
read more here

DOD and VA Trying to Understand Active Duty and Veterans? Duh!

DoD-VA Research Partnership to Improve Understanding of Active Duty and Veteran Health
CA, UNITED STATES
Courtesy Story
Naval Health Research Center
 03.28.2017

“The current study shows the course of PTSD is similar between separated and continuously serving active duty personnel, supporting the use of common treatment methods within the VA and DoD, which will facilitate the transition of patients from one system to the other,” said Faix.

A new partnership between DoD and VA medical researchers achieves a milestone with its first joint publication, which examines post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in veteran and active duty populations. The study will be published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, June 2017.

The new study, the first to compare PTSD symptom trajectories of current and former service members, was authored by researchers from the VA and the DoD’s Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a longitudinal study to evaluate the health of military personnel throughout their careers and after, launched in 2001 and led by the Naval Health Research Center.

“The Millennium Cohort Study is one of the largest sources of self-reported health information of current and former service members,” said Cmdr. Dennis Faix, director of the Millennium Cohort Study and preventive medicine physician. “Many DoD studies only examine current service members and many VA studies begin examining veterans after they have separated from the military. The Millennium Cohort Study is one of the few studies that straddle this line.”

In the joint study, DoD and VA researchers found similar PTSD symptom trajectories in active duty personnel and veterans, suggesting consistency in how both groups experience PTSD over time. Of the four trajectories found in both groups, the most common was the resilient trajectory with low PTSD symptom levels. Veterans, however, were less likely to be classified in the resilient category than those on active duty.
read more here

UCF Restores Gets Funding for PTSD...We Get Left Out On Our Own

PROPOSED NATIONAL DEFENSE BUDGET INCLUDES $3M FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA PTSD CLINIC
WMFE News
by Renata Sago
March 9, 2017

More than 250 service members, veterans, and first responders have been treated since the clinic opened.

The $577.9 billion national defense bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week includes a provision for money that would go to a University of Central Florida clinic that treats veterans and first responders for post-traumatic stress disorder.

UCF RESTORES uses virtual reality as a key part of treatment. The funding for the clinic would come from a defense budget devoted to advanced concepts and simulation.

Dan Holsenbeck, Senior Vice President for University Relations for UCF, is hopeful the provision will get Senate approval and eventually a nod from the president. He knows the funding will not help the clinic run long-term.
read more here 

And yet again, this program is just for OEF and OIF veterans...not our generation!

UCF Restores

PTSD Treatment
Troop deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan has been extensive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common among our returning veterans. PTSD is associated with poor quality of life, guilt, anger, and unemployment, among other life challenges.

The Trauma Management Therapy program, a division of UCF RESTORES, is offering a treatment program that uses the most effective treatments for combat-related PTSD.

This is a clinical research program, funded by a grant to UCF from the Department of Defense Military Operations Medical Operations Program.

Individuals who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, who believe that they might be suffering from PTSD, and who are interested in getting more information about our Trauma Management Therapy program are encouraged to call the TMT Project Manager, Dr. Sandra Neer, at 407-823-1668.

Do they give a shit about the fact that the majority of the reported suicides by the VA are over the age of 50? Do they give a crap that age group is also among the largest percentage of veterans fighting PTSD on a daily basis with little help or attention? Do we matter at all to any of these new "efforts" following the decades of efforts we created in the first place?

Veteran Learns to Overcome PTSD and Heal

Not new, so, not "groundbreaking" plus, there is no cure, but as this does show, there is real healing going on, and that is the most important thing to take away from all of this. No one is stuck the way you are. You can change again for the better and take away the power PTSD has over you.

Groundbreaking Fort Hood Study On PTSD Gives Hope For A Permanent Cure
NBC 6 News
Doug Currin

RETIRED SERGEANT FIRST CLASS SEAN BRACK - WHO - WITH SEVERAL SYMPTOMS OF THE STRESS, KNEW HE NEEDED HELP. SOON AFTERWARDS, MR. BRACK HEARD OF AN EXPERIMENTAL THERAPY HAPPENING ON POST DONE BY THE STRONG STAR CONSORTIUM AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH AND SCIENCE CENTER OF SAN ANTONIO.

Brack sums up his takeaway: “the simple act of telling someone is an amazing release. Literally like a weight off the chest. You realize I’m not the only one who feels this way – I’m not crazy for feeling this way.”

Retired sergeant first class Sean Brack - who - with several symptoms of the stress, knew he needed help. Soon afterwards, Mr. Brack heard of an experimental therapy happening on post done by the Strong Star consortium and the University of Texas Health and Science Center of San Antonio.

He soon realized he could overcome and move forward with his life.

When P.T.S.D. takes over, it's coming out of a dark place, that can take a long time. Sean's experience was just that.

“When I did feel something it would be rage.”

His quality of life was suffering. and medications were not helping.

“I couldn't keep my eyes open during the day but I couldn't sleep at night. it was like looking through a vail of gauze. Everything was dull. I just didn't care,” he said.

Sean was already in an altered sense of reality - so his rational thinking was in question.

One thing in particular he remembers - walking in the war zone in Afghanistan, and what it was like to walk among those who were killed and left for dead.
read more here

Is Bad Research on PTSD Considered Fake News?

Bad Research on PTSD Continues
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 8, 2017

When we buy something to ingest, most products come with an expiration date to let us know when the good time has run out and it can make us sick if we use it. So why hasn't bad research ever included an expiration date? After all, the research on PTSD has been going on for over 40 years. Most of the "research" being done now has been repeated, dismissed or expanded on, yet reading most of the new research is more like reading a shampoo bottle with "wash, rinse and repeat."

The so called new or ground breaking research was washed out but if you are new to all of this, you were not warned about how long great research has sat on the shelf gathering dust. 

Congress has a habit of taking what they think is new and then fund it so they can appear to be informed but we've suffered for their lack of curiosity and inability to direct their staff to research the subject. In the case of veterans with PTSD, that neglect has been deadly while making the rest of us sick over the results.

In 1999 the Department of Veterans Affairs research put the number of veterans committing suicide at 20 a day. If you got up to page 18 on this report you'd find this chart.

If that number sounds familiar, it should. They came out with that same number in their latest report. What they did not say was back in 1999, there were over 5 million more veterans in the country.

When doing any kind of research, the findings should only be taken seriously if the previous research was actually reviewed.

I consider most of the reporting being done on PTSD fake news. This morning was one of those encounters with an article that made me want to go back into my bed and cover my head.

This was my first clue that this article should not be taken seriously.

"In earlier studies, Morozov and Wataru Ito - a research assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute - investigated observational fear in a rodent model. They found that animals that witnessed stress in others, without experiencing any negative events themselves, displayed an increased fear response in other situations."

Rodents still being studied? Seriously? Ok, in the beginning when there were not enough people talking about having PTSD, that kind of made sense. But that need was obliterated about 40 years ago. With around 7 million Americans walking around with PTSD, you know, actual people they are supposedly trying to understand, the supply of human lab rats was readily available. Great researchers understood that way back then.

Simply observing fear in others changes brain connectivity
Medical News Today
Tim Newman
January 8, 2017

Research shows that it is not necessary to experience trauma directly to be affected by it. A recent study provides evidence that simply being around someone who has had a stressful experience can make changes to the way the brain processes information.

Research shows that observing other's stresses can change connectivity in the brain. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops in some people following a frightening, dangerous, or shocking event.

Although most people do not develop PTSD after such an experience, an estimated 7-8 percent of people in the United States will experience PTSD during their life.

Symptoms vary from individual to individual, but can include flashbacks, intrusive negative thoughts, avoiding places, events, or objects, and being easily startled.

Even if a specific event does not trigger PTSD at the time, it raises the chance of an individual developing it at a later date.
read more of this here.

Enough of that nonsense. Not living through an event/situation/circumstance, yet developing PTSD actually has a term and it is called Secondary PTSD.

This is from the Department of Veterans Affairs on how caregivers develop Secondary PTSD.

Partners of Veterans with PTSD: Research Findings

References

Calhoun, P. S., Beckham, J. C., & Bosworth, H. B. (2002). Caregiver burden and psychological distress in partners of Veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 205-212.

Jordan, B. K., Marmar, C. B., Fairbank, J. A., Schlenger, W. E., Kulka, R. A., Hough, R. L., et al. (1992). Problems in families of male Vietnam Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 916-926.

Kulka, R. A., Schlenger, W. E., Fairbank, J. A., Hough, R. L., Jordan, B. K., Marmar, C. R., et al. (1990). Trauma and the Vietnam War generation: Report of findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Silverstein, R. F. (1996). Combat-related trauma as measured by ego developmental indices of defenses and identity achievement. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 157, 169-179.

Waysman, M., Mikulincer, M., Solomon, Z., & Weisenberg, M. (1993). Secondary traumatization among wives of posttraumatic combat Veterans: A family typology. Journal of Family Psychology, 7, 104-118.

Mikulincer, M., Florian, V., & Solomon, Z. (1995). Marital intimacy, family support, and secondary traumatization: A study of wives of Veterans with combat stress reaction. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 8, 203-213.

Riggs, D. S., Byrne, C. A., Weathers, F. W., & Litz, B. T. (1998). The quality of the intimate relationships of male Vietnam Veterans: Problems associated with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11, 87-101.

Carroll, E. M., Rueger, D. B., Foy, D. W., & Donahoe, C. P. (1985). Vietnam combat Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: Analysis of marital and cohabitating adjustment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 329-337.

Cosgrove, D. J., Gordon, Z., Bernie, J. E., Hami, S., Montoya, D., Stein, M. B., et al. (2002). Sexual dysfunction in combat Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Urology, 60, 881-884.

Solomon, Z., Waysman, M., Avitzur, E., & Enoch, D. (1991). Psychiatric symptomatology among wives of soldiers following combat stress reaction: The role of the social network and marital relations. Anxiety Research, 4, 213-223

President's Commission on Mental Health. (1978). Mental health problems of Vietnam era Veterans (Vol. 3), pp. 1321-1328. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Byrne, C. A., & Riggs, D. S. (1996). The cycle of trauma: Relationship aggression in male Vietnam Veterans with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Violence and Victims, 11, 213-225.

Nelson, B. S., & Wright, D. W. (1996). Understanding and treating post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in female partners of Veterans with PTSD. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 22, 455-467.

Verbosky, S. J., & Ryan, D. A. (1988). Female partners of Vietnam Veterans: Stress by proximity. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 9, 95-104.

Williams, C. M., & Williams, T. (1987). Family therapy and Vietnam Veterans. In T. Williams (Ed.), Post-traumatic stress disorders: A handbook for clinicians (pp. 221-231). Cincinnati, Ohio: Disabled American Veterans.

Beckham, J. C., Lytle, B. L., & Feldman, M. E. (1996). Caregiver burden in partners of Vietnam War Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 1068-1072.

Ruscio, A. M., Weathers, F. W., King, L. A., & King, D. W. (2002). Male war-zone Veterans' perceived relationships with their children: The importance of emotional numbing. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 351-357.

Harris, M. J., & Fisher, B. S. (1985). Group therapy in the treatment of female partners of Vietnam Veterans. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 10, 44-50.

Williams, C. (1987). The veteran system with a focus on women partners. In T. Williams (Ed.), Post-traumatic stress disorders: A handbook for clinicians (pp. 169-192). Cincinnati, Ohio: Disabled American Veterans.

Johnson, S. M. (2002). Emotionally focused couple therapy with trauma survivors: Strengthening attachment bonds. New York: Guilford.

Monson, C.M., Guthrie, K.A., & Stevens, S. (2003) . Cognitive-behavioral couple's treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. Behavior Therapist, 26, 393-401.

This is about those who work with veterans or anyone else living with PTSD.

This is from 2007 article on counselors developing PTSD list of references at the bottom, indicating that this article is far from new research. I do not agree with the report itself because it dismisses what many experts have been proven right on. Treating people, not rats, for PTSD requires a triple play of treating their mind, their body and their spirit/soul. Leave one out and healing does not happen to the whole person.

Secondary Traumatic Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Counselor Spirituality: Implications for Counselors Working with Trauma

References

Athur, N.M. (1990). The assessment of burnout: A review of three inventories useful for research and counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 69, 186-189.

Chrestman, K.R. (1995). Secondary exposure to trauma and self reported distress among therapists. In B.H. Stamm (Ed.), Secondary traumatic stress: Self care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators (pp. 29-36). Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press.

Cooper, A.E. (2003). An investigation of the relationships among spirituality, prayer, and meditation, and aspects of stress and coping. Dissertation Abstracts International (UMI no. 3084474).

Figley, C.R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. Bristol, PA: Brunner/Mazel.

Graham, S., Furr, S., Flowers, C. & Burke, M.T. (2001). Religion and spirituality in coping with stress [Electronic version]. Counseling and Values, 46(1), 2-14.

Koenig, H.G. (1999). The healing power of faith. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Morgan, H. (2004, June). Spiritual healing. Learning Disability Practice, 7(5), 8-9.

McCann, I.L. & Pearlman, L.A. (1990b). Vicarious traumatization: A framework for understanding the psychological effects of working with victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3, 131-149.

McCann, I.L. & Saakvitne, K.W. (1995). Treating therapists with vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress disorders. In C.R. Figley (Ed.), Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized (pp. 150-177). New York: Brunner/Mazel.

Pearlman, L.A. & MacIan, P.S. (1995). Vicarious traumatization: An empirical study of the effects of trauma work on trauma therapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 26, 558-565.

Pearlman, L.A. & Saakvitne, K.W. (1995). Treating therapists with vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress disorders. In C.R. Figley (Ed.), Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized (pp. 150-177). New York: Brunner/Mazel.

Ryan, P.L. (1998). Spirituality among adult survivors of childhood violence: A literature Review [Electronic version]. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 30, 39-51.

Simpson, L. R. (2005). Level of Spirituality as a Predictor of the Occurrence of Compassion Fatigue among Counseling Professionals in Mississippi. University of Mississippi.

Another Combat PTSD Headline Busted!

The Headline: New PTSD study shows promise of faster recovery
KVIA ABC News 7 

The Claim

Last month, researchers released the results of a three-year study of "cognitive processing therapy" at Fort Hood. According to the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, CPT is a 12-session psychotherapy that teaches patients how to evaluate and change upsetting thoughts since experiencing trauma. Sessions can be done individually or in groups of 6-10 people and last 60 to 90 minutes each.

And how much does it cost? Just an idea on this

SAN ANTONIO (March 19, 2008)—A $33 million research program—the largest ever undertaken to help our courageous armed forces personnel cope with combat-related traumatic stress—will likely ensure better detection, prevention and treatment of traumatic stress’s often-devastating effects and improve countless lives, study leaders said today at a press conference at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

The research program is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) as part of $450 million the U.S. Congress allocated in 2007 to address the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The DoD Peer-Review Medical Research Program awarded the grant.

DoD, VA approve $45 million to fund the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD

Award to be managed by the UT Health Science Center San Antonio and the VA National Center for PTSD, leaders of the national PTSD research consortium

SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 12, 2013) — In an unprecedented show of support for our nation's wounded warriors, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have agreed to provide approximately $45 million over five years for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research to advance PTSD diagnosis, prevention and treatment for service members and veterans. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the VA National Center for PTSD lead the consortium, announced over the weekend by the White House and DoD and VA officials.

The Consortium to Alleviate PTSD (CAP) will provide an array of cutting-edge clinical treatment trials and biological studies for active military and veterans with PTSD and related conditions, said CAP Consortium Director Alan L. Peterson, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. The consortium's initiatives will include efforts to learn more about the biology/physiology of PTSD development and treatment response to inform diagnosis, prediction of disease outcome, and new or improved treatment methods.

Maybe the DOD and the VA should ask for their money back?

A simple Google Search would have changed this headline cognitive processing therapy

Cognitive processing therapy for sexual assault victims. PA Resick, MK Schnicke - Journal of consulting and clinical …, 1992 - psycnet.apa.org Abstract 1. Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) was developed to treat the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in rape victims. CPT is based on an information processing theory of PTSD and includes education, exposure, and cognitive components. Cited by 1301 Related articles All 6 versions Cite Save [HTML] nih.gov

A comparison of cognitive-processing therapy with prolonged exposure and a waiting condition for the treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder in female … PA Resick, P Nishith, TL Weaver, MC Astin… - Journal of consulting …, 2002 - psycnet.apa.org Abstract 1. The purpose of this study was to compare cognitive-processing therapy (CPT) with prolonged exposure and a minimal attention condition (MA) for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. One hundred seventy-one female Cited by 929 Related articles All 12 versions Cite Save [PDF] researchgate.net

Cognitive processing therapy for veterans with military-related posttraumatic stress disorder. CM Monson, PP Schnurr, PA Resick… - Journal of Consulting …, 2006 - psycnet.apa.org Abstract 1. Sixty veterans (54 men, 6 women) with chronic military-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) participated in a wait-list controlled trial of cognitive processing therapy (CPT). The overall dropout rate was 16.6%(20% from CPT, 13% from waiting list). Cited by 548 Related articles All 11 versions Cite Save [BOOK] Cognitive processing therapy for rape victims: A treatment manual PA Resick, M Schnicke - 1993 - books.google.com

Sexual assault is a traumatic event from which many survivors never fully recover. They may develop a range of disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, poor self- esteem, interpersonal difficulties and sexual dysfunction. This volume provides insight into Cited by 730 Related articles All 5 versions Cite Save More [HTML] nih.gov

A randomized clinical trial to dismantle components of cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in female victims of interpersonal violence. PA Resick, TE Galovski, MOB Uhlmansiek… - Journal of consulting …, 2008 - psycnet.apa.org Abstract 1. The purpose of this experiment was to conduct a dismantling study of cognitive processing therapy in which the full protocol was compared with its constituent components-- cognitive therapy only (CPT-C) and written accounts (WA)--for the treatment of posttraumatic Cited by 438 Related articles All 16 versions Cite Save [PDF] cptforptsd.com

An evaluation of cognitive processing therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood sexual abuse. KM Chard - Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2005 - psycnet.apa.org Abstract 1. This study compared the effectiveness of cognitive processing therapy for sexual abuse survivors (CPT-SA) with that of the minimal attention (MA) given to a wait-listed control group. Seventy-one women were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 groups. Cited by 300 Related articles All 11 versions Cite Save

Cognitive processing therapy TE Galovski, JS Wachen, KM Chard… - … Based Treatments for …, 2015 - Springer Abstract Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral treatment designed specifically to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid symptoms. This chapter will first review the theoretical underpinnings of the intervention and Cited by 5 Related articles All 3 versions Cite Save [PDF] researchgate.net

Adapting cognitive processing therapy for child sexual abuse survivors KM Chard, TL Weaver, PA Resick - Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 1997 - Elsevier With the advent of managed care, there is an increasing need for short-term, empirically based treatments. This article presents a cognitive behavioral therapy protocol for the treatment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, Cognitive Processing Therapy for Cited by 75 Related articles All 5 versions Cite Save [HTML] nih.gov

Pattern of change in prolonged exposure and cognitive-processing therapy for female rape victims with posttraumatic stress disorder. P Nishith, PA Resick, MG Griffin - Journal of Consulting and Clinical …, 2002 - psycnet.apa.org Abstract 1. Curve estimation techniques were used to identify the pattern of therapeutic change in female rape victims with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Within-session data on the Posttraumatic Stres Disorder Symptom Scale were obtained, in alternate therapy Cited by 107 Related articles All 9 versions Cite Save [PDF] ryerson.ca

[PDF] Cognitive Processing Therapy PA Resick, CM Monson, K Chard - Retrieved May, 2007 - psych.ryerson.ca Session 2-The Meaning of the Event*: Patient reads Impact Statement. Therapist and patient discuss meaning of trauma. Begin to identify stuck points and problematic areas, and add to Stuck Point Log. Review symptoms of PTSD and theory. Introduction of ABC Worksheets Cited by 7 Related articles All 4 versions Cite Save More

Nitty-Gritty-Pesky Facts Skipped on PTSD Reporting

Yet One More Infomercial on PTSD Program
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 26, 2016

This is the claim being made. "A ground-breaking program hopes to help soldiers with PTSD like no one has ever has done before." Ok, well then I guess everyone in this for the last four decades did not exist. That is when all the real "ground breaking" started. Since then, it has been more like digging a hole in the ground and veterans falling into it.

Just a reminder, I wrote about the "collateral damage" being done to our troops and spawning the suffering of millions of veterans right along with their families back in 2015. It got into the nitty gritty pesky things called facts and historical reports tying most of the results to the deplorable "resilience training" our troops were receiving. 

The number of enlisted was higher, yet the number of suicides were lower before they started this. There were also two full-force wars being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Top that off with the fact the DOD kept saying most of the suicides happened with non-deployed troops taking their own lives. Yep, after getting the same "training" everyone else got.

The geniuses thought it would work on combat forces deployed multiple times when it didn't even work for stateside folks? But they kept doing it anyway. As the number of enlisted went down and the number of suicides went up, they pushed the training harder.

But the press never bothered to investigate why any of this was happening or the fact that Congress kept writing FUBAR bills that simply repeated what had already failed. Well, BOHICA on yet one more case of the press not doing their jobs with this latest report. It leaves so many questions it is hard to know what the goal of this was.

Packers Don Barclay hopes to spread word of his uncles’ ground-breaking PTSD therapy program
ABC News
By Aisha Morales
Published: December 23, 2016

Green Bay, Wis. (WBAY) – A new program and the only one of its kind is hoping to change the way veterans and active duty military members with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health struggles are treated.

It’s a four-week intensive program based in Virginia created by Doctor Tim Barclay, uncle of Don Barclay of the Green Bay Packers.

Dr. Tim Barclay has seen the issue up close and personal and thinks it’s time to make a change.

“In treating veterans I’ve always been frustrated that not being able to deliver the type of care that is actually needed to treat like traumatic brain injury, PTSD, depression, and anxiety, and common things that they struggle with, simply because of insurance benefits are so limiting,” said Dr. Barclay.

This passion was the start of Collateral Damage Project, a non-profit program that will survive solely on donations.

“We’re hoping to launch our first group of participants in the Spring, so we’re just in our intensive fundraising mode to get all the things that we need to get in place,” said Dr. Barclay.
read more here

Specialized Intensive PTSD Programs (SIPPs) already exist.

SIPPs provide PTSD treatment services in an inpatient or residential setting. Length of stay varies across programs and is based on the needs of the Veteran. SIPPs include:

Evaluation and Brief PTSD Treatment Units (EBPTUs)
PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (PTSD RRTP) and PTSD Domiciliary Programs (PTSD DOM)
Specialized Inpatient PTSD Units (SIPUs)
Women's Trauma Recovery Programs (WTRPs)

The Miami VA has something that is "intense" therapy for PTSD

Inpatient PTSD Programs include four basic types of services conducted while veterans reside in hospital units providing 24-hour nursing and psychiatry care:

Specialized Inpatient PTSD Units (SIPUs) provide trauma-focused evaluation, education, and psychotherapy for a period of 28 to 90 days of hospital admission.

Evaluation and Brief Treatment of PTSD Units (EBTPUs) provide PTSD evaluation, education, and psychotherapy for a briefer period ranging from 14 to 28 days.

PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Programs (PRRPs) provide PTSD evaluation, education, and counseling, and case management emphasizing resuming a productive involvement in community life. PRRP admissions tend to be 28 to 90 days.

PTSD Substance Use Programs (PSUs) provide combined evaluation, education, and counseling for substance use problems and PTSD. PSU admissions range from 14 to 90 days.

Yet, there were problems with this program.

A drug abuse rehabilitation program at Miami’s Veterans Affairs hospital failed to monitor patients, provide sufficient staff, control access to the facility or even curb illicit drug use among patients — culminating with the death of a combat veteran in his 20s who overdosed on cocaine and heroin, according to a federal report.

So, back to the claim being made. How is it that a program that hasn't even started get a headline like this? You read how they are looking for funding and want to find ten patients to do it in the spring. Where is the evidence? What exactly is different about this? The interview video is about looking for psychologist on top of everything else. Shouldn't the headline be more like, "Yet one more group jumps onto the bandwagon" for Heaven 's sake?

Our troops and veterans committing suicide after surviving combat should be an important enough topic that they merit real reporting instead of an infomercial.

Pioneering Fort Hood study on PTSD, Old is "new again!"

They called it "pioneering" but in the same article it is pointed out that CPT goes back to the 80's. CPT does work, when done the right way, like making sure there is closure and soldiers find a way to make peace with themselves instead of battling within themselves. When done the wrong way, they get frustrated and give up. The best research on PTSD started 40 years ago, but what failed has been repeated and what worked has been forgotten about.

Pioneering Fort Hood study on PTSD treatment finds some healed
San Antonio Express
By J.p. Lawrence
November 23, 2016

CPT examines how someone thinks about a traumatic event and how that affects their emotions, said Patricia Resick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University who developed CPT in 1988. CPT, along with prolonged exposure therapy, are the two primary “talk” therapy methods used to treat PTSD.

Staff Sgt. Martin L. Morris waits to be awarded the Purple Heart at Fort Hood, Tuesday, December 19, 2006. Nicole Fruge/ San Antonio Express-News

There was a time when Sean Brack would encounter a sticky floor and be transported back to war. He would peel his foot up from the floor of a movie theater, and it would remind him of standing in a pool of blood, and walking through that blood to get to a wounded friend.

The flashbacks happened in 2010, when Brack thought of killing himself. After three tours to Iraq, Brack, a sergeant first class, had problems sleeping, isolated himself, and was on his way to becoming an alcoholic, he recalled. He was due to deploy to Afghanistan with the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade from Fort Hood.

Then, Brack, 47, entered part of what would become a series of studies at Fort Hood on a type of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, called cognitive processing therapy.

Studies have been done on CPT’s effectiveness on civilians and veterans, but a paper published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry included results of the largest study on the treatment’s effectiveness on active duty soldiers to date.

Over the course of 12 sessions at Fort Hood, nearly half of active duty soldiers in one-on-one therapy and 40 percent in group therapy recovered from PTSD, the study found.
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PTSD Miracle Treatment Or Snake Oil?

Wow, you'd think that researchers would figure out what was done before. If it worked, they'd still be doing it and we would have seen the results. Guess they hope we didn't notice.

Volunteers wanted for PTSD study of treatment some call a miracle
STARS AND STRIPES
By JENNIFER H. SVAN
Published: November 6, 2016

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — A treatment involving the injection of a local anesthetic next to a bundle of nerves in the neck has eased post-traumatic stress symptoms in some patients in as little as 30 minutes with dramatic, lasting results.

Now, the Pentagon is funding a study at three Army medical centers to determine if the technique — long used for the treatment of pain — is truly effective in treating PTSD.

The results from the largest random, controlled trial using the stellate ganglion block could revolutionize the way PTSD — considered a mental illness — is viewed and treated, according to doctors familiar with the experimental procedure.

“It really is the tipping point,” Col. James Lynch, command surgeon for U.S. Special Operations Command Africa in Stuttgart, who has seen firsthand the promising effects of the shot, said about the current trial.
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Does this sound new to you? I bet it doesn't because we already read this "research" back in 2010. Remember this blast from the past?

Stellate Ganglion Blocker Offers Hope for PTSD Treatment only that study came out of New York. I just checked and the link to the report is still live.

JAB TO THE NECK TREATS PTSD?
By Dr. Jay Adlersberg and Eyewitness News
July 28, 2010 3:17:47 PM PDT
NEW YORK -- All it takes is one loud noise to trigger a flood of awful memories. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) haunts one in every six soldiers coming back from Iraq, and nearly eight million Americans in all. Standard treatment means therapy and medications that don't always work and have side effects. Now, one doctor is treating PTSD with an injection that he says can block the painful memories.

"I was firing a rocket propelled grenade (RPG). When I pulled the trigger, it malfunctioned, and it blew up in the tube. Injured seven marines and killed three, all good friends of mine," said John Sullivan, an Iraq Veteran.

Thirteen surgeries, several skin grafts, and two years of therapy later, Sullivan is in a much more peaceful place, but that doesn't mean he's safe from the effects of war.

"I was riding on a bus with my uncle going to a baseball game, and the tire blew out?started having a panic attack," Sullivan said.

Sullivan was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder. It can occur after you've seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the threat of injury or death. According to the National Center for PTSD, statistics indicate that approximately 7 to 8 percent of people in the United States will likely develop PTSD in their lifetime. For combat veterans and rape victims, the chance of developing PTSD is as high as 30 percent.

Untreated PTSD can have devastating, far-reaching consequences. It can prevent someone from functioning in daily life and can ruin relationships. Economically, PTSD can have significant consequences as well. As of 2005, more than 200,000 veterans were receiving disability compensation for this illness, at a cost of $4.3 billion. This represents an 80-percent increase in the number of military people receiving disability benefits for PTSD.

Anti-anxiety meds didn't work for Sullivan, so he's trying an experimental treatment: an injection to the neck to stop PTSD.
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Many Different Wounds You Cannot See Still Just As Real

I often get offended when some folks want to say PTSD is an "invisible wound" almost as if that allows them to walk away without ever really thinking about it. 

Take all the other "invisible wounds" and then try to dismiss them. A broken bone does not always break through the skin, yet a broken bone still causes pain and needs help to heal. 

What about a headache or toothache? Can anyone see that pain? What about torn tendons or pulled muscles? Can anyone see them with just their eyes?

About six months ago I started to have problems with my left leg. I thought it would just get better, but it didn't. It got worse. After the last time I fell, I decided to go see my doctor.

He could tell I was in pain even though there was nothing for him to see as far as my leg was concerned. He sent me for an MRI. 

What if he didn't know me or the fact that I have a high tolerance to pain? What if he didn't believe the pain I was reporting was real?

It tuns out the MRI showed a reason for the pain. I have nerve damage and it has been causing the pain running down my leg. No one can see it with just their eyes. They can only tell by the way I walk that I am in pain.

With PTSD, no one can see it unless they either know the person or use a medical scan to see it. The fact is, the pain is so real inside, if you know them, you can see the pain they carry. You cannot see a lot of things unless you actually take the time and look.

We know that it is real, just as real, as traumatic brain injury, and that is what technology has proven. The pain is real but only machines can see what you feel. That is, unless you happen to be with others, who not only see your pain, but help you carry the load until they help you heal.

The longer you wait to heal, the more you torture yourself. You could be healing right now instead of suffering.

This video is about TBI.

NYU PTSD Researcher Dismissed Exploited Vulnerable

An N.Y.U. Study Gone Wrong, and a Top Researcher Dismissed
The New York Times
By BENEDICT CAREY
JUNE 27, 2016

Study participants with mental disorders are especially susceptible to adverse reactions, experts said. “These are people who are more vulnerable to being exploited in the research process, and more vulnerable to things going wrong during the research, so you want extra vigilance,” said Elisa Hurley, the executive director of Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, a national nonprofit devoted to promoting high research standards. “If someone in my family were in a situation like this, I would want to be sure that the institution was crossing its t’s and dotting its i’s.”

Diane Ruffcorn, of Seattle, was a participant in the N.Y.U. study who said she had been sexually abused as a child. “I was given this drug, and all these tests, and then it was goodbye, I was on my own,” she said. “There was no follow-up.” Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

New York University’s medical school has quietly shut down eight studies at its prominent psychiatric research center and parted ways with a top researcher after discovering a series of violations in a study of an experimental, mind-altering drug.

A subsequent federal investigation found lax oversight of study participants, most of whom had serious mental issues. The Food and Drug Administration investigators also found that records had been falsified and researchers had failed to keep accurate case histories.

In one of the shuttered studies, people with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress caused by childhood abuse took a relatively untested drug intended to mimic the effects of marijuana, to see if it relieved symptoms.
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PTSD Veterans Twice As Likely to Be Dissatisfied About Sex Life

Veterans With PTSD More Likely To Report
Dissatisfaction With Sex Life, Women Often Have Less Sex
Medical Daily
By Ed Cara
Jun 7, 2016

“In both genders, a diagnosis of PTSD was associated with decreased sexual satisfaction, independent of medications used to treat PTSD, such as opioids and SSRIs,” they concluded.

Veterans who return home with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may also struggle with their sex lives, suggests a recent study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

The researchers examined data taken from a long-running cohort study of warzone veterans called the Veterans After-Discharge Longitudinal Registry, or VALOR. They then compared 987 veterans with PTSD to 594 veterans without the condition. Those with the disorder were nearly twice as likely to feel dissatisfied about their sex lives as well as more likely to report sexual dysfunction than those without. And while men in both groups were about equally likely to report being sexually active, women with PTSD were less likely to report having sex in the past three months than their counterparts.
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First Time Ever PTSD Study Happened A Long Time Ago

This morning my email box is full of claims that "For first time, medical marijuana to be studied as treatment for vets' PTSD" and it seems like everyone is talking about this but no one is even bothering to figure out if that claim is true or not.

"For the first time, the Drug Enforcement Agency has given the green light to a controlled, clinical trial of medical marijuana for veterans suffering from PTSD."

"The proposal from the University of Arizona was long ago cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, but researchers had been unable to purchase marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The agency's Mississippi research farm is the only federally-sanctioned source of the drug."

As with everything else, too many people think PTSD was just invented and all the research is brand spanking new.  While it all may seem like news to them, it is far from new to veterans.  Ask any Vietnam veteran and you'll get a clue how long it has been used.

In a letter last week, HHS cleared the purchase of medical marijuana by the studies' chief financial backer, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which supports medical research and legalization of marijuana and other drugs.

When did that happen? 2014, so no, all the claims of "first time ever" are wrong because the research had already started long before now and even before 2014. By 2013 Washington and Colorado got the green light from the Department of Justice to use marijuana because research had already shown benefits of it. But it went back even further.

State Passed the Law, but Never Used It
New York Times
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Published: April 20, 2001

ALBANY, April 19— It seemed so revolutionary.

In 1996, California and Arizona legalized the medical use of marijuana. Six states and the District of Columbia followed. A new movement, it appeared, was sweeping the country.

Not so new, actually. New York beat them all by a mile.

In 1980, the Legislature and Gov. Hugh L. Carey, to little fanfare, enacted a medical marijuana law in New York, the first of its kind. But the mechanism needed to make the law effective was never put in place, and it was largely forgotten.

In fact, many of the people involved two decades ago had to have their memories jogged. ''I had forgotten all about this,'' said James R. Tallon, now the president of the United Hospital Fund, who was an assemblyman and chairman of the Health Committee when the panel approved the bill.
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Deployed During Insurgency, Iraq Veterans Double Likelihood for PTSD

Study: Iraq War insurgency led to rise in PTSD rates
UPI
By Brooks Hays
Dec. 29, 2015

"Assessment of the nature of combat may be useful in research and in clinical settings," researchers wrote in their study.

A bomb-sniffing dog from the U.S. Air Force is led by a soldier with the U.S. Army 25th Infantry Division. The pair are seen searching for IEDs during a raid in Iraq in 2006. Photo by U.S. Air Force

BOSTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A new study suggests the insurgency phase of the Iraq War caused an uptick in instances of post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

The research was conducted by scientists at the National Center for PTSD, a collaborative effort between the VA Boston Healthcare System and the Boston University School of Medicine.

When they used these phases to analyze the mental health diagnoses of Iraq War veterans, they found men deployed during the insurgency phase were more than twice as likely to have developed PTSD. The same correlation was not found among women.
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PTSD Research Missing What Was Already Known?

There is another study that made the news lately. Apparently the reporter had not been given the news it had all been researched before.

DAV Forgotten Warrior Project way back in 1978.

This is what it found among other things that have not changed.


In other words, for all the claims of new research, other than the brain scans being done, there is nothing new on PTSD or what combat does. Not even knew for what trauma does to anyone no matter what the cause is. All of which began when Vietnam veterans came home and fought for the research.

Now it seems there are new claims yet again, and yet again, far from new as you just read. So what are they not discovering if they can't even discover what has already been done?

Veterans' PTSD may recur down the line
Reuters
Published December 18, 2015

Soldiers with combat duties outside the military base also had significantly more PTSD symptoms at one year and five years than those who only resided inside the military base during their deployment.

Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan had a spike in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in the months immediately after their return, but also five years later, according to a Dutch study.

The results suggest that screening for PTSD symptoms should continue for more than just a year or two after soldiers return home because new or recurrent PTSD cases could emerge, the authors say.

"Our objective was to gain more insight in the changes in posttraumatic stress complaints in a long-term period after deployment, ultimately to evaluate the timing of an increase in treatment demand after deployment," said lead author Iris Eekhout of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, by email.

In the U.S., 11 to 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq war suffer PTSD symptoms each year, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Headway made on treatments for PTSD--Again

There seems to be a lot of history being repeated these days. You'd think with the ability to find facts with a few keystrokes, they would know what was already done and discover if it worked or not. After all, trauma connected to war was being studied over 100 years ago during WWI. Since the basic design of humans has not changed, the only thing researchers have learned in the last decade they could really label as new, are the brain scans showing PTSD as well as TBI the other invisible wound.

"In Israel, a 2011 study found early intervention following a trauma can help prevent the full onset of PTSD."

That was mentioned in the following article about treating trauma differently than they have in the past. But that wasn't new at all. In 2008 I was certified in Crisis Intervention as a Chaplain by the IFOC because I knew it worked and worked well.

Psychologist: Headway made on treatments for PTSD
Stars and Stripes
By Dianna Cahn
Published: December 13, 2015

Clinical psychologist, Dr. Alan Peterson, a professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and a research scientist with the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, talks about the effects of the blast at a federal health conference in San Antonio on Dec. 2. DIANNA CAHN/STARS AND STRIPES

Before he launched into his lecture on the long-term consequences of “the blast,” Alan Peterson, a clinical psychologist, took a moment to pay tribute to his subjects — and to get his audience’s attention.

“This time of year, keep in mind, we have a lot of people who are deployed,” said Peterson, who is the behavioral medicine chief at the medical school of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “For our troops who are deployed, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and …”

“BOOM!” he said, in a sudden shout.

Beside him, images flashed across a screen: ripped, ragged limbs, pools of blood, furniture — and people — thrown like rag dolls.

Though many treatments might work, the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have sanctioned two of them for pervasive use: prolonged exposure therapy, in which a patient reviews the traumatic experience again and again until the event becomes historical and stops setting off triggers, and cognitive processing therapy, in which the patient reviews symptoms and accounts of the trauma and works to modify thoughts and beliefs related to it — more of an adaptation of perspective.

A 2012 study found 80 percent of civilians treated with these therapies were basically cured, and remained that way five years later.

But doctors have yet to conclude that it works as well on military veterans. Part of the problem, Peterson said, is that active-duty servicemembers don’t manage to show up for sessions during a 12-to-15-week period. Doctors are now trying compressed treatments, in which the sessions are daily for two weeks, rather than spread out over a longer period.
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Risk of Dying Increased for Vietnam Veterans With PTSD

Risk of death nearly doubled for Vietnam veterans with PTSD
Reuters
By Andrew M. Seaman
Posted Dec. 04, 2015

About 16 percent of all Vietnam veterans who were alive in the 1980s are now dead, with most deaths due to cancer and heart disease, the authors estimate.

Higher than average death rates among Vietnam War veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD suggest that combat trauma may still be affecting veterans’ health even decades after the war, according to a new study.

U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War followed from the 1980s to 2011 were almost twice as likely to die during that period if they had PTSD compared to those without the disorder.

The findings can inform healthcare for Vietnam veterans, now mostly in their 60s and older, and prevention efforts for the next generation of soldiers, the study team writes in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

“The study offers really valuable empirical information that can help us better understand how to care for our Vietnam veterans … and also more recent veterans,” said study author Nida Corry, of Abt Associates in Durham, North Carolina.

PTSD can develop after a person has been through a traumatic event like combat, child abuse or sexual abuse, terrorism attacks and other disasters, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Symptoms can include flashbacks, avoiding reminders of the traumatic events, changes in beliefs and activities and being overly alert, according to the VA.
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For Heaven's Sake! Tell Researchers Mice Don't Have Souls!

You'd think that TIME would give a damn about their reputation but apparently they decided to just go the easy way out and talk about a "new" study on what has been done and dumped years ago.

Turning Off One Gene Blocks PTSD in Mice: Study
TIME
Mandy Oaklander
December 1, 2015

A new study on older mice finds that fear responses can permanently disappear when this gene is blocked

A new study on mice, published Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, could help pave the way for a more effective way to treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans.

Using an animal model for human PTSD, in which researchers conditioned mice to feel fear and then attempted to reverse it, the scientists found that blocking a single gene in mice could turn off their chronic fear response.

In the study, the researchers conditioned a fear response in adult mice by putting them in a box, where they received shocks every time they heard a certain tone. The mice learned to associate that tone with the painful shock, and when they heard it, they became afraid and froze in their tracks, whether they were being shocked or not. “When we played a tone, they stopped moving, expecting something bad to happen,” says Dr. Stephen Strittmatter, professor of neurology and neuroscience at the Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study.
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This is from 2008

The protein, called beta-catenin, transmits early signals in species ranging from flies to frogs to mice that separate an embryo into front and back or top and bottom. It also acts like Velcro, fastening a cell's internal skeleton to proteins on its external membranes that in turn connect them to other cells.

This is from 2009

University Studies Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Recently, the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) School of Medicine received a $60 million dollar grant for a five-year study to determine better prevention and treatment methods of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) among American victims and war veterans/soldiers.

The study, which is funded by the Department of Defense Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program (DoD PH/TBI), will test new therapies to “prevent illness and enhance recovery in individuals at risk for adverse psychological, emotional and cognitive outcomes” caused by TBI and PTSD, according to UC news release.

And then this is from 2009 as well when I put together a list of just how wrong, wrong, wrong and stupid all this is. Note to Pentagon:PTSD? It's only human stupid!

But none of this stopped anyone from getting a lot of money to redo what had been dumped after being paid for as well. I could keep going but you get the point.  They actually think that rats grieve? Feel a loss or survival guilt? That they risk their lives everyday for other rats? They still don't understand the basis of PTSD or how to heal it but hey, there's money to be made pretending they can prevent it all again?