PTSD: Do Men and Women React Differently?

Courtesy VA.gov

A study of 18 men and 13 women who had been diagnosed with PTSD showed researchers that the genders react differently to fear.

A staff psychologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco conducted the study that was published in the October 2012 issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Women vs. Men

The study showed women responded more strongly to visual cues than men when they saw a particular image that they knew was going to be followed by an electric shock.

Researchers say it suggests that women can be  conditioned more robustly than men.
PTSD Gender Rates

Mental health experts say women in the general population are twice as likely than men to develop post traumatic stress disorder. Yet, the rate of PTSD was the same among men and women recently seeking treatment at the VA.

As with most research, it created more questions than answers. Researchers don’t know what drives the gender differences in fear conditioning and if there are biological differences  in the fear responses of men and women.

You can read more about the PTSD Gender study HERE.

among recent returnees seeking care at VA, PTSD rates among men and women are the same. Statistics such as these suggest the need to better understand the role of gender in PTSD, particularly as it may impact our Veterans seeking care.” – See more at: http://www.va.gov/health/NewsFeatures/2013/April/PTSD-Study-Men-Versus-Women.asp#sthash.7qpEcaVJ.dpuf

among recent returnees seeking care at VA, PTSD rates among men and women are the same. Statistics such as these suggest the need to better understand the role of gender in PTSD, particularly as it may impact our Veterans seeking care.” – See more at: http://www.va.gov/health/NewsFeatures/2013/April/PTSD-Study-Men-Versus-Women.asp#sthash.7qpEcaVJ.dpuf

PTSD Research Consortium Forms to Find Answers

Image courtesy of the VA Research on PTSD.

Most any combat veteran will tell you – teamwork is essential for survival and victory on the field of battle. The same holds true in the field of science and research.

So it’s encouraging news that a collaboration of scientists, researchers and physicians are teaming up to find the answers about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Their focus is twofold:

• Developing a process to diagnose PTSD based on objective, clinical data such as bio-markers and neuro-imaging.
• Creating treatment protocols that are objective and personalized and complement current subjective evaluation and treatment.

Draper Laboratory formed the consortium of nationally-recognized experts on PTSD. Dr. Len Polizzotto, Draper’s vice president, is  in charge of the program.

Veterans with Mental Health Issues More Likely to Use Drugs

Combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk of mental health problems, especially post traumatic stress disorder.

And a study released Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that OEF/OIF veterans with PTSD were more likely to be prescribed pain killers and are at higher risk of abuse or misuse of the drugs. After studying more than 141,000 veterans who were prescribed pain medication within a year of entering the VA health care system, the study found opioids were prescribed for:

• 17.8% of vets with PTSD
• 11.7% of vets with mental health diagnoses but not PTSD
• 6.5% of vets with no mental health diagnosis

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The research points to the need for doctors to use caution when treating veterans who need pain relief but who also have mental health or substance-use disorders. Even in the civilian population, abuse of opioid medications has skyrocketed, with increased rates of addiction and overdose deaths.

But, the authors noted: “Most VA primary care clinicians lack specialized training in the management of co-morbid pain and PTSD.”

You can read the JAMA abstract from the study HERE.

Veterans Train Shelter Dogs to Help Those with PTSD

Photo courtesy of EmaxHealth.com

The use of service dogs to help wounded Veterans is a growing trend. A group of researchers at the University of Missouri are developing a program where veterans living with PTSD are tasked with training shelter dogs that would otherwise be euthanized.

The Mizzou research is called the “Mutual Enrichment – Walking and Training Service Dogs” study. It has three phases as detailed in this EmaxHealth story by Kathleen Blanchard.

The study runs for six months and reportedly there are openings for participates.

Contact information:

Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction, College of Veterinary Medicine, Clydesdale Hall, Annex Two, 900 East Campus Drive, Columbia, MO 65211, Phone 573-882-2266, E-mail: rechai@missouri.edu.

 

PTSD Study: Drug for Recurring Nightmares Shows Promise

Scientists wanted to find out the reason why people with PTSD can’t sleep and dream normally. One theory comes from Matthew Walker, a psychology researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

National Public Radio report by Amy Standen said that  Walker began looking at rapid eye movement, or REM, which occurs when a person dreams.

Walker’s theory suggests that in people with PTSD, REM sleep is broken and the body’s adrenaline doesn’t go away like during normal dream patterns. So, the brain just cycles through the same dream, again and again.

So, the VA began trials looking at the drug, prazosin, which can take the adrenaline away. Pfizer Inc. introduced the drug under the brand name Minipress in the 1970s to treat high blood pressure. Dr. Murray Raskind, a VA psychiatrist in Seattle, said the drug, now generic, can cost anywhere between 5 and 15 cents and was less effective as a blood pressure medication.

This year, the VA is expected to finish up its trial for prazosin. It’s already prescribing the drug to about 15 percent of its PTSD patients.

You can listen to and read the NPR report HERE.

130 Medical Schools Join Forces with Military

First Lady Michelle Obama at the lauch of the Joining Forces initiative. Photo courtesy of the Joining Forces website.

The medical colleges at the University of South Florida, Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Pittsburgh are among the 130 medical schools and  research centers that committed Wednesday to creating a new generation of doctors and advanced research to care for military families and veterans.

It’s the wellness part of First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative that focuses on the recognizing the sacrifices of military families.

“I’m inspired to see our nation’s medical schools step up to address this pressing need for our veterans and military families.  By directing some of our brightest minds, our most cutting-edge research, and our finest teaching institutions toward our military families, they’re ensuring that those who have served our country receive the first-rate care that they have earned,” said First Lady Michelle Obama in a White House Press release.

Three examples cited of universities stepping up include:

• Virginia Commonwealth University where they’re leading a groundbreaking project to provide resources and training to health care providers, volunteers, and community members throughout Virginia who can help ease the transition home for veterans with TBI and PTSD.
• The University of Pittsburgh where researchers are developing a new imaging tool that allows the visualization of the wiring of the brain in vivid high-definition, which could lead to new breakthroughs in the diagnosis of TBI.
• The University of South Florida where they are working with the Department of Defense and the VA to create a first-of-its-kind Center for Veterans Reintegration, which will mean a single, cohesive research, treatment, and education facility for veterans and families.

A full list of the universities and research centers participating in Joining Forces is available HERE.

Veterans Needed to Help Complete a PTSD Study

You don’t have to have a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to participate in this study. The control group comes from veterans who have no exposure to combat or PTSD.

But, veterans with a PTSD diagnosis but not on any medication are also needed to complete the initial study by Draper Laboratories in Cambridge and Tampa’s University of South Florida.

Draper researchers are trying to find a more reliable way to diagnose PTSD by measuring physiological responses like heart rate, perspiration and respiration.

David O’Dowd, a program manager with Draper, said preliminary findings show that people with PTSD react differently to stimuli than those without the anxiety disorder.

Draper researcher Ashley Vincent and program manager David O'Dowd.

“One of things I felt was interesting is the sound of helicopters,” O’Dowd said. “The control group was much more responsive to that than either of the combat trauma – with or without the PTSD. They were like ‘oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,’ and other people were like ‘Oh! What’s that?’”

O’Dowd said finding the final few participants has been slow because the criteria has limited which combat veterans qualify.

“The group we’re looking for that has PTSD, they can’t be on medications and that’s been the real Bah-Boom,” O’Dowd said. “That’s kind of hard. So, we’re trying to start with people who are younger and more newly diagnosed.”

Draper is reaching out to new veteran college students among others. To learn more on whether you qualify and how to participate in the research study, you can contact Draper Laboratories at USF at 813/465-5482. Leave a message and some will contact you said Ashley Vincent, a Draper researcher at USF.

PTSD and TBI: What the VA, Defense Department Are Doing

The PTSD Coach application can be downloaded free for use on most smartphones. VA image.

Here’s an end of  the year update on the handling  of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) by the departments of Defense and Veterans’ Affairs. The conditions have become the signature “invisible” wounds of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

It was less than three years ago that the Rand Corporation released a study, Invisible Wounds of War,  showing PTSD and TBI go unrecognized, undiagnosed and untreated among many returning combat veterans.

Since that study, there have been significant changes as detailed in a Craig Collins  story for the Defense Media Network online:

One of the first changes made in the wake of the RAND report was the Pentagon’s implementation of mandatory screening programs for all personnel returning from war zones, both for PTSD and TBI. For TBI, the screening, detection, tracking, research, and outreach activities of both the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are carried out by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).

The article also looks at how the coexistence of  PTSD and TBI in veterans has led the VA to revise its clinical practice guidelines for treatment:

Emerging evidence suggests, also, that treatments for service members with PTSD can be successful regardless of whether a patient has suffered a TBI. As Dr. Matthew Friedman, executive director of the National Center for PTSD, explained, the two best treatments for PTSD are psychotherapies: prolonged exposure therapy, which requires emotional processing of the event and becoming conditioned to fears, and cognitive processing therapy, which involves understanding the ways in which trauma has changed a patient’s view of him/herself and the world.

Yet, a federal court of appeals ruled that the VA is not doing enough nor is it acting quickly enough serving veterans with PTSD and other psychological health needs who have filed VA disability claims:

408,167 veterans with a primary or secondary diagnosis of PTSD received treatment at VA medical centers and clinics in 2010; this number, combined with another statistic – by the VA’s own estimation, only about 36 percent of the veterans who are eligible for its benefits and programs sign up to receive them – suggests that many, perhaps tens of thousands, are simply being missed by an overburdened system.

You can read the full story, “PTSD and TBI: Where We Are Now,” HERE.

A Veteran Living with PTSD: You Owe It to Yourself

Cheyenne represented veterans with "invisible wounds" during the 2010 Florida Ride 2 Recovery from Tampa's MacDill AFB to Jacksonville.

BY CHEYENNE FORSYTHE

 

Sitting in an office, at the University of South Florida, about to participate in a PTSD study called Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) for Psychological Trauma, I heard these words, “You owe it to yourself.” For some reason they hit home and have been resonating with me all morning long. Maybe it’s the news of another suicide or the downing of a chopper with all those soldiers on it but I haven’t been able to get those words out of my head.

When I think of all the reasons to stay alive and get myself well, so that I can take on the challenge of the rest of my life, seldom do I think of myself. Usually, it’s other people that first come to mind, like my son. I want to be there to be dad even though his mom and I are divorced and he lives 1,177 miles away. Recently, he’s been calling more often. Last week, he lost two teeth and called me when he wiggled them out, both times. That felt great.

The next person that comes to mind, is my dad. He’s the greatest man who I’ve ever met. Dad is going to be 60 years old this year and mom is throwing him a big party. Relatives from all over the country are coming in to help us throw him a big surprise party. I’ve been thinking about the speech I’m going to give. It’s going to go something like this, “Many of you might think Superman is a fictional character, but I know better. Superman was born 60 years ago and has been married to my mother for 35 years.”

Point is, before you think about how much all these people will be torn up if you killed yourself, you have to remember that you owe it to yourself to succeed, first and foremost. You’re a special individual who’s carved out a niche in life and someday someone is going to be depending on you to be there. Whether it’s a joke at the old man’s birthday party or your child’s tooth story, you’ve got a responsibility to be healed, as much as possible, so you can be there to handle those situations, as best as you can.

Give yourself an opportunity to heal your mind, body and soul. In this instance, its OK to be selfish and think of yourself first. VA facilities all across the country are waiting for you to give them a call to set up an appointment to start taking care of yourself so you can be the best you possible. University counseling centers and Vet Centers all across the country are ready to help you get started on the rest of your life. Are you ready? Remember, you owe it to yourself.

Researchers Look to Combat Vets to Help with PTSD Study

Psychophysiologist Andrea Webb oversees a simulation of the test being developed to better indentify veterans with PTSD.

A team of researchers in Tampa and Cambridge is using current technology to measures physiological responses linked to PTSD symptoms in the hopes of developing a test for PTSD that any clinician can use.

An increasing number of combat veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are in danger of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Diagnosing the anxiety disorder is difficult and has led to denied claims and delayed help for some veterans.

Andrea Webb, a psychophysiologist with Draper Laboratories, studies physiological responses such as heart rate and perspiration that are linked to ones mental state. She specialized in lie detectors but is expanding to use the current technology to help diagnose PTSD.

Several physiological responses are measured while a study subject views a 3-D video of a simulated combat mission.

“Physiology is a very powerful tool a lot of them are hard to control yourself they’re very automatic and your body does them naturally anyway,” Webb said. “So you can capitalize on that and measure them, lie detection is one area.”

She said there’s a lot of academic literature that links physiological responses with PTSD. The key is developing a test that any clinician can use. That’s what Webb’s research team at Draper is doing pairing technology, such as 3-D videos and physiological monitoring devices, with computer software to develop a test for PTSD.

“It’s a very important issue to the nation and also a lot of people are affected by it,” Webb said.

What researchers need now are combat veterans who are willing to participate in their study. Participants will receive a stipend of $25 an hour for their time. All information is confidential.

Draper Laboratories at USF Tampa is currently enrolling healthy veterans between the ages of 18 and 60 for a one-time research session in Tampa. For details, call 813/465-5482.