MetaFilter posts tagged with PTSD

One small step.

MaryDellamorte — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:26:54 -0800

Zoos and circuses in India will no longer be allowed to keep elephants. Elephants in captivity and PTSD. [previously]

NICU PTSD

swift — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:05:31 -0800

About three months after her son's birth, Ms. Roscoe asked to see a psychiatrist. She was given a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, or P.T.S.D. — a mental illness more often associated with surviving war, car accidents and assaults, but now being recognized in parents of premature infants in prolonged intensive care. (nyt)

Good boy.

educatedslacker — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:32:46 -0800

Tuesday is a so-called psychiatric-service dog, a new generation of animals trained to help people whose suffering is not physical, but emotional. They are, effectively, Seeing Eye dogs for the mind.

Tuesday's master is an Iraq war veteran suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Tuesday, and many other dogs like him, are being trained in New York prisons in a program called Puppies Behind Bars (previously).

Soldiers' Stress: What Doctors Get Wrong About PTSD

lullaby — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:19:07 -0800

Soldiers' Stress: What Doctors Get Wrong About PTSD. A growing number of experts insist that the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder is itself disordered and that soldiers are suffering as a result.

“There’s culture shock, and then there’s the culture shock of moving to a country that started a war in your home.”

wander — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:49:47 -0800

"The war has uprooted 4.7 million people from their homes. So where are they?" With the election of Obama and the economic crisis, the topic of Iraq has fallen by the wayside. As hard as things may be right now, Iraqis have been going through far worse for years now. If you're curious about what they have to say, hear them tell it in their own words. Iraqi Refugee Stories. Lest we also forget the war's toll on soldiers: The Life and Lonely Death of Noah Pierce. If you're asking, "What can I do about any of this?" Go here. And if you feel you can't manage to do any of that, then be good to yourself, and your neighbors. Go out of your way to do one nice thing for someone, or challenge one of the preconceptions you might have about someone else. You don't have to save the world, but you can at try least make it just a little nicer than it was. If you know any Iraqis affected by the war (or have worked closely with them yourself), or even know of some through someone else, encourage them to share their stories here.

Cross-cultural psychiatry

homunculus — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:34:35 -0800

West treats East. "To help traumatized Tibetan monks, doctors in Boston turn to cross-cultural medicine." [Via]

"Our whole approach is based on the idea that science matters at the FDA"

kliuless — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:50:34 -0800

The Economist on Drugs -- Scientists in North America, Europe and Israel are studying the use of MDMA, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana and other banned psychoactive substances in treating conditions such as anxiety, cluster headaches, addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder. They are supported by private funds from a handful of organisations: the Beckley Foundation in Britain; the Heffter Research Institute and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in America. [related]

Ancient Greek Drama for the Moderns

wittgenstein — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:54:59 -0800

"The plays can reassure a soldier, she says, 'that I am not alone, that I am not going crazy, that I am joined by the ages of warriors and their loved ones who've gone before me, and who have done what most in society have no idea our warriors do.' " The Philoctetes Project. (video available)

Don't Worry, Be Happy.

gman — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:02:59 -0800

Hi there, it’s Gail Westerfield, the writer's super heroine, and I'm feeling groovy thanks to Dr. Michael Mithoefer. Previously.

Battlemind

Rumple — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:28:56 -0800

Battlemind: Armor for Your Mind is a U.S. Army website designed to help, in part, families deal with deployment, including a series of cartoons and videos intended for children whose parents may be sent to or be returning from warzones. Part of the Army's Behavioral Health program, these give intriguing insight into military culture. Cartoons featuring Mr. Poe & Sgt. Drew are oddly juxtaposed with the harrowing account of a Golden Gate suicide survivor: Thus, I ended up leaping off that bridge and at the moment of free fall, I said God, please save me, I don’t want to die. And I always used to say to me, Kevin you are in two feet of water and you are drowning, stand up. If you are in two feet of water right now stand up, walk forward, it’s okay to ask for help.

The psychological impact of war

Surfin' Bird — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:01:07 -0800

For the former U.S. marine Michael Elliott the psychological impact of war is the latest and most challenging battle. Private Joseph Dwyer survived rocket-propelled grenades and shocking violence, made his way back to his family and friends, but couldn't escape the “demons” that followed him home. Experts say up to 30% of returning soldiers will require psychiatric help: a number not seen since the end of the Vietnam War. Today 60% of war veterans suffering from PTSD don't receive any help at all.

RIP Travis N. Twiggs, USMC PTSD Sufferer

homunculus — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:40:04 -0800

PTSD: The War Within. A Marine writes about his PTSD experience. This article from the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette was written by USMC Staff Sergeant Travis N. Twiggs. Twiggs killed himself and his brother after a long police chase in Arizona earlier this week.

dance like nobody's watching.

gman — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:44:20 -0800

Not just for PTSD.

The Peace Drug

empath — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:53:37 -0800

The Peace Drug The Washington Post Magazine takes a look at MDMA as a cure for PTSD.

An update on the 'Marlboro Marine'

salvia — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:18:02 -0800

Photo-Essay on the Marlboro Marine and PTSD. An update on this story: 1, 2.

It is no small labor to rescue all mankind, every mother's son

Miko — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 08:14:21 -0800

The MacArthur Foundation awarded its "genius" grants yesterday. Among the winners was Jonathan Shay, a a VA psychiatrist whose midlife discovery of the Homeric epics inspired him to use their depictions of soldier bonding and cohesion, leadership, trust and betrayal, and terror and rage to treat the psychological disorders and transition difficulties of combat veterans. NPR interview.

The killing of Jamie Dean

homunculus — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:25:26 -0800

The killing of Jamie Dean. "Police in rural Maryland staged a military stakeout and shot a troubled Army vet. As his family plans to sue, they are asking how a soldier being treated for PTSD could be shipped to Iraq."

AWOL W/PTSD? FUBAR

Smedleyman — Fri, 25 May 2007 16:52:38 -0800

Court martialed for PTSD? "But I'm very concerned that, in a time when the Army is going out there and saying, we're trying to make sure that we provide good counseling for the troops, that, when someone has asked for help, they're potentially facing a court-martial. "

Fighting PTSD the only way they know how.

MapGuy — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 07:59:03 -0800

Behind Enemy Lines Liberal use of this narcotic produced with high voltage found to reduce the affects of PTSD, in coalition and British forces in particular.

"Seventeen times of trying to commit suicide, I think it’s time to give up."

Toekneesan — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:22:08 -0800

Injured in Iraq. The story of the soldier who may have changed Congressman Murtha's mind about the war.

Veterans' Health Care

homunculus — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 12:23:24 -0800

Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility. The Iraq war has transformed Walter Reed into "a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients." Meanwhile, despite predictions that the cost of medical care for veterans will skyrocket, the Bush administration apparently plans to cut funding for veterans' health care. Tired of waiting for the government, more people are taking the initiative in developing alternative facilities to help veterans.

An Elephant Never Forgets

cal71 — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 10:14:34 -0800

Elephant Rage might just tell us a lot about ourselves. There are rehab programs for elephants [mefi thread], and perhaps the ones for human victims can paired . This would be a pretty big step in acknowledging the trans-species psyche. Could this lead to a scientific revultion? Should it lead to an ethical one?

ptsd

augustweed — Thu, 11 May 2006 19:21:33 -0800

Only 2,029 out of 9,145 veterans with post traumatic stress disorder resulting from combat have been referred to mental health for evaluation/treatment. I say give them the same treatment the IDF gets.

Ask Your VA Doctor About Sucrosa

digaman — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 10:41:22 -0800

Are you a Gulf War veteran still suffering from mysterious symptoms or post-combat trauma? The Veteran's Administration has just the prescription for you: "Obecalp," otherwise known as placebo. (p.s. -- They'd better start working on an Extra-Strength version for Iraq War vets.)

"People don't want to know the Marlboro Man has PTSD"

stenseng — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 22:04:49 -0800

It was an instant icon, with Dan Rather calling it "the best war photograph in recent years." About 100 newspapers ran the photo, dubbing the anonymous warrior the "Marlboro Man." The photograph hit the world on Nov. 10, 2004: a close-cropped shot of a U.S. Marine in Iraq, his face smeared with blood and dirt, a cigarette dangling from his lips, smoke curling across weary eyes. He's quieter now -- easier to anger. He turns to fight at the sound of a backfire, can't look at fireworks without thinking of fire raining down on a city. He has trouble sleeping, and when he does, his fingers twitch on invisible triggers. The diagnosis: post-traumatic stress disorder. The man in the photograph is James Blake Miller, now 21, and he is an icon, although in ways Rather probably never imagined.

Previously mentioned briefly here