A new study from researchers at C.C.N.Y. (City College of New York) examined the connection between improvements in posttraumatic stress and improvement in substance abuse over the course of time in 353 women diagnosed with both conditions.

Participants were randomly assigned to 12 sessions of either trauma-focused treatment or health education.  Assessments were made on the PTS and the substance use during treatment at 1 week and posttreatment after 3, 6, and 12 months.

Subjects showing no improvement, an improvement in the substance use only, or a total, global improvement early on, tended to maintain their original diagnosis over time; but subjects initially exhibiting improvement in their PTSD symptoms were significantly more likely to transition into a global response over time, indicating that they maintained their PTSD improvement, and that it was associated with subsequent improvements in substance use.
 

We thought, given the terrible situation in Haiti, it might be useful to post the results of this classic study of survivors of the great Turkish earthquake of 1999, which points to what makes survivors more vulnerable to PTSD.  Subsequent surveys from China, Japan, Italy, El Salvador and Iceland support these findings. , Additional factors appear to be dislocation, subsequent financial difficulties, disruption of social networks, injury, the intensity of fear and/or presence of dissociation at the time of the trauma. Loss of family and friends appear to be more associated with depression rather than posttraumatic stress.  Difficulties appear to be fairly longstanding, according to most of these surveys.

Researchers from King's College at the University of London in the UK examined the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in 586 earthquake survivors living in prefabricated housing, an average of 20 months after the 1999 Marmara earthquake in Turkey. 

Hello BR,
 
I had a chance this past week to twitter in and listen to/watch your interview with Ann Basset on the Vineyard View.   As always, excellent and thought provoking.
 
You said something that has stuck with me and I wonder if you might elaborate?  You said that just recently professionals have ceased referring to ptsd and now use pts or ptss (syndrome) because pts is not a mental health disorder, but rather a neurophysiological condition.
 
Does that mean that pts is no longer considered an anxiety disorder? And will it no longer be part of the DSM?

In a really fascinating and important meta-analysis, researchers from Tufts University studied identical twins to see whether resting functional brain abnormalities found in combat-related PTSD are acquired characteristics or familial risk factors.

Recent neuroimaging research has shown functional abnormalities in the anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus in people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This study compares the PET scans (of resting regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose) in fourteen combat-exposed veterans with PTSD and their fourteen identical co-twins, not exposed to combat, as well as nineteen combat-exposed veterans without PTSD (n = 19) and their nineteen identical co-twins, not exposed to combat.

A research team from New York University and the University of Texas at Austin demonstrated that timing is critical in extinguishing a fear response – and this has groundbreaking potential for the treatment of phobias, anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress.  Evidently, there’s a brief window of opportunity for rewriting painful emotional memories immediately after re-activating them, when the imprinted memory becomes labile and open to change.

Simple fear was created in 65 subjects by giving them a mild electrical shock on the wrist one third of the time when shown a colored square appear on a computer screen (Earlier research in conditioned learning shows that this is the frequency of ‘punishment’ that creates a lasting association).

The very inspiring Dr. James Gordon and his awesome, kickass team of volunteer mental health professionals are currently doing advanced PTS training in Gaza City.  This is something, folks.  Yep, they work separately with both Israelis and Palestinians, and continue in the wonderful tradition of what they did in Bosnia and post-Katrina New Orleans.
 
These folks get it that posttraumatic stress is a biochemical and neuro-physiological condition, and that the way to healing is through the primitive brain and nervous system.

Question:  

I am sponsoring a woman in AA who has PTSD-like symptoms from childhood sexual abuse. She is very functional in work and has a well kept apartment. Her finances are in order, and she is sober about 1 1/2 years.

She is suffering from frequent flashbacks of the abuse that are causing great suffering. I referred her to your website for the recordings/books. She is against using psych meds, which I support.

We live in a semi-rural area and the local community services board counselors are very psych med oriented. She went to a counselor for a few sessions who suggested meds., which my sponsee doesn't want and then the counselor was pretty vague about a treatment plan. She isn't going there now.

Well, as you might imagine, since the Fort Hood shootings, the phones have been ringing off the hook and emails have been pouring in.  People want to know why the Dept. of Defense and the V.A. aren’t using portable, digitized guided imagery in a more systematic way to combat PTSD in our troops, given the research results we’ve been seeing with it.

It’s hard to know where to begin, so I’ll just start with some random thoughts. Hopefully they’ll come across as sequential.

Question:
Someone told me that you recently mentioned using guided imagery and Reiki together. I am very much interested in this as I am a Reiki Practitioner/Master. I would love to hear your thoughts on this and any suggestions. Is there anything available I can use as a guide?
Tonya