In the first analysis of its kind to study military service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, the RAND Corporation has found: Nearly 20% of returning Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers (300K) report PTSD or major depression. Many service members failed to report PTSD or major depression fearing it would damage their career. Service members fail to […] Read more

As Iraq vets return with increasing incidence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) health care use and costs have increased. Most PTSD research has focused on male veterans and female assault victims–leaving the impact on other sectors of the population uncertain. Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) interviewed […] Read more

A central question in post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research is why some individuals are at a greater risk of developing the disorder than others who face similar levels of trauma exposure. Rebekah G. Bradley, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, studied the role the variations of the gene (polymorphisms) FKBP5 has in predicting PTSD symptoms […] Read more

Previous studies on stress suggest that post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could be either environmental or genetic. One study found the size of several regions of the brain are inherited and presumably one region in particular, the hippocampus, may increase stress reactivity or impair the capacity for resilience. Another study found that stress can cause brain […] Read more

Researchers knew that there was a connection between post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance-use disorder (SUD). Also, researchers already knew that a patient with PTSD is at risk for developing a SUD–in particular drug dependence. What researchers were uncertain of is if PTSD patients were more likely to be at a greater risk for […] Read more

An elevated level of a white blood cell count can indicate a major infection or a serious blood disorder such as leukemia. Now it is thought that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be just as good of an indicator of a person’s long term health status. Joseph Boscarino, PhD, MPH, Geisinger Senior Investigator, examined the […] Read more

In previous studies post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had been associated with changes in brain activity. However, none of those studies were able to determine whether the changes were contributing or merely a result of PTSD. Senior investigator Jordan Grafman, Ph.D., National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of NIH, used the Vietnam Head […] Read more

Combat and war-zone soldiers are expected to have higher incidents of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A recent study by London, Ontario, researchers found Canadian peacekeepers suffer similar rates of PTSD to the combat and war-zone soldiers. Psychiatrist J. Donald Richardson, professor Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, and his co-investigators, conducted […] Read more

Depression is often thought to be a problem with brain chemistry, although recent evidence suggest that it may also be a structural problem with cells not regenerating as fast as normal. One possible reason for the lack of regeneration by the cells is from the toxic effects of stress and stress hormones. Researcher, Kamillla Miskowiak, […] Read more

Although post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cannot usually be diagnosed until 4 weeks after a traumatic event, the  symptoms that occur before the end of the 4 week period often become persistent. Arieh Shalev,M.D., Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and founding Director of the Center for Traumatic Stress at Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, wanted […] Read more