Publications - Trauma and Resiliency

Childhood brain injury tied to adult anxiety, depression, by Madeline Kennedy, Reuters, Jun 7 2017.

“Children who sustained traumatic brain injuries may experience psychological effects like anxiety, phobias and depression more than a decade later, researchers say...Albicini’s team reports in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation that children with moderately severe brain injuries and females in general were at the greatest risk for long-term psychological effects compared with boys and children who had milder brain injuries...'These results emphasize the need to monitor children and adolescents for the development of anxiety disorders after they have a TBI,' said Dr. Jeffrey Max, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, San Diego, who wasn’t involved in the study. ”

The Migrating Mind: New Studies Unlock Impact of Immigration on Mental Health, by John Watson, Medscape, May 18 2017.

“The mass migration that's characterized the young, chaotic 21st century to date is captured in numbers befitting its imposing scale. It is estimated that 244 million people (3.3% of the world's population) live outside their country of origin, of whom 65 million were forcibly displaced as a result of ongoing conflict and persecution—an all-time high for that figure.   ”

PTSD Drugs May Hike Risk for Dementia in Vets, by Traci Pedersen, Psych Central, May 10 2017.

“Research has shown that veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at greater risk for developing dementia. Some of this risk may come from other comorbid conditions that often go along with PTSD such as traumatic brain injury, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, among others...In a new study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers discovered that taking certain medications significantly increased veterans’ risks for developing dementia, whether or not they had PTSD, compared to those who didn’t take such drugs. ”

PTSD risk may be passed down through our DNA, by MIchael Nedelman, CNN, Apr 25 2017.

“A study published today in Molecular Psychiatry sheds new light on why some people might develop PTSD and others don't. For some, the key might lie in their DNA...While the vast majority of the people in the study had experienced trauma, only a quarter of them had been diagnosed with PTSD. Using common genetic markers, the study found evidence of a genetic risk for PTSD... ”

Scientists find common antibiotic could prevent or treat PTSD, by Kate Kelland, Reuters, Apr 4 2017.

“A common antibiotic called doxycycline can disrupt the formation of negative thoughts and fears in the brain and may prove useful in treating or preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research by British and Swiss scientists...Scientists said the antibiotic works in this way because it blocks certain proteins outside nerve cells, called matrix enzymes, which our brains need to form memories. 'We have demonstrated a proof-of-principle for an entirely new treatment strategy for PTSD,' said Dominik Bach, a professor at University College London and the University of Zurich, who co-led the research team. ”

Alcohol Use Among Vets with Schizophrenia Is Limited But Troubling, by Traci Pedersen, Psych Central, Apr 3 2017.

“Although veterans with schizophrenia are much more likely to abstain from alcohol than the general population, around 15 percent still report some use and another seven percent report misuse and intoxication, according to a new study at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)...The study shows that there is no safe level of alcohol use for people with schizophrenia, suggesting that clinicians should ask patients with schizophrenia about their drinking habits and advise them about risks. ”

How Health Care Can Reduce Domestic Violence, by Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, Mar 9 2017.

“HAART, a combination of several HIV drugs, transformed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic, survivable condition, prolonging life by several decades...Now, a new NBER working paper suggests the treatment also gave a group of HIV-positive women a new lease on life—so much so that some of them quit using drugs and left their physically abusive partners. ”

Being incarcerated as a juvenile tied to poor health years later, by Andrew M. Seaman , Reuters, Jan 23 2017.

“People incarcerated as juveniles may have worse physical and mental health as adults than youths who did not spend time in detention centers or correctional facilities, according to a new study...The magnitude of the increased health risks was tied to the time people spent incarcerated, researchers found. About 1.3 million children under age 18 years are arrested each year, write the researchers in Pediatrics. Of those, 46 percent require some type of immediate medical attention. Additionally 70 percent of incarcerated children have at least one psychiatric disorder...'Like most things in life, the experiences they have as a young person seem to carry over into their adult years,' said Ralph DiClemente, of Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta. ”

As Sleep Improves, So Does An Injured Brain, by Jon Hamilton, NPR, Dec 21 2016.

“For patients with serious brain injuries, there's a strong link between sleep patterns and recovery. A study of 30 patients hospitalized for moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries found that sleep quality and brain function improved in tandem, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Neurology... The results raise the possibility that patients with brain injuries might recover more quickly if hospitals took steps to restore normal sleep patterns, Gosselin says. ”

Telemedicine for PTSD no less effective than in-person therapy, by Shereen Lehman, Reuters, Dec 13 2016.

“Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who have difficulties making it to in-person therapy sessions may be able to get treatment that’s just as good by videoconference.  Researchers compared home-delivered prolonged exposure therapy - which helps patients confront memories and situations that trigger their symptoms - to the same treatment given in U.S. Veterans Affairs clinics, and found no difference in effectiveness. ”

People with traumatic brain injuries more likely to go to prison, by Ronnie Cohen, Reuters, Dec 8 2016.

“Men and women who suffered traumatic brain injuries had more than twice the risk of winding up in a federal prison in Canada as their uninjured peers, a new study shows.  That doesn’t surprise Dr. Geoffrey Manley, a neurosurgeon who runs a trauma center. He knows all too well the long-term struggles of survivors of traumatic brain injuries. ”

Senators, Military Specialists Say Army Report On Dismissed Soldiers Is Troubling, by Daniel Zwerdling , NPR, Dec 1 2016.

“An Army review concludes that commanders did nothing wrong when they kicked out more than 22,000 soldiers for misconduct after they came back from Iraq or Afghanistan – even though all of those troops had been diagnosed with mental health problems or brain injuries. ”

PTSD can persist for years in kids, but parents may not see it, by Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, Nov 8 2016.

“After a car crash, children can experience post-traumatic stress disorder for months or years afterward although parents may have trouble recognizing it, according to a new U.K. study. 'What these results stress I think is that we need to take the reactions of young children to these sorts of events seriously – their reactions can persist for years in some cases,' lead author Dr. Richard Meiser-Stedman of the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School told Reuters Health by email.  Among children aged 8 years and over, roughly 10 to 30 percent of those in motor vehicle collisions experience PTSD, he said. ”

Childhood Trauma Affects Development, Physical Health, by Janice Wood, Psych Central, Oct 23 2016.

“While it’s well-known that adverse childhood experiences carry over into adult life, a new study focuses on the effects of these experiences during the childhood years... The researchers found that household dysfunction affects children’s weight early in childhood, and abuse and neglect affect children’s weight later in childhood. Children exposed to early adversity also have increased risk for asthma, infection, somatic complaints, and sleep disruption, according to the study’s findings. ”

How our anxiety impacts our kids, by Kelly Wallace, CNN, Jul 15 2016.

“You feel anxious so you check with your child, 'Do you feel anxious? Do you feel anxious?' Sooner or later, probably sooner, they will start to feel anxious.' Dr. Gail Saltz, associate professor of psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, believes it's natural for parents to feel some anxiety, especially after a tragedy like a terror attack or a mass shooting, but what parents might not realize is how often children, beginning at the youngest ages, adopt coping mechanisms from watching us. ”