Here’s a worrisome finding. Having a diagnosis of PTSD is positively associated with an increased risk of developing dementia. According to a recent study published in Alzheimers and Dementia Kristine Yaffe, MD, from the University of California San Francisco led a group of researchers as they tracked over 180,000 veterans aged 55 and older from […]
What “Shell Shock” Taught us about Treating PTSD
Back in World War I when we were trying to treat soldiers experiencing “shell shock” (later known as PTSD), a new profession known as Occupational Therapy was founded. The thought at that time was that these shell shocked soldiers would find relief quicker by doing something rather than just talking about their experiences. Hmm. It […]
Stress and Cancer
We know that stress is unhealthy, but does it have any impact on cancer? A new study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation looked at the effect that chronic stress had on ovarian cancer patients. Anil Sood, MD and his colleagues at the University of Texas implanted ovarian cancer cells into mice and then exposed […]
Hypnosis and Trauma
Every day I turn on the news and see reports of violence somewhere. . . . it may be armed conflicts in the Middle East or Africa. . . . it may be child or domestic abuse here at home. As a psychologist, my next thought is how to treat the mental anguish that must […]
Getting ready for PTSD
In case you haven’t already heard, April is National Stress Awareness Month. Why do we as a nation spend an entire month on this topic? Because we need to. Just to put the insidiousness of stress into perspective, here are a few statistics from the American Psychological Association: Highly stressed teenagers are twice as likely […]