Word: ptsd
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is usually associated with grownup veterans of wars or terrorist attacks, but doctors have known for some time that children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the long-term psychological scarring that can follow a close encounter with extreme violence. In that respect, there was news both bad and good last week about PTSD and children. The bad news is that the incidence of PTSD in children is higher in the U.S. than we might have expected. The good news is that effective techniques have been developed to identify--and treat--those who are most...
...better idea might be to make the last semester a different sort of time altogether. Instead of halfheartedly attending courses while suffering from the symptoms of PTSD (Post-Thesis Stress Disorder), seniors could make better use of their last semester to reap the opportunities of the course catalog without the narrowing burden of requirements. By carving out the spring as a time for seniors to carry out an independent project, or finish their theses, or participate in seminars or pursue reading projects with professors, the final semester would become a culmination of a four-year education, a natural extension...
...eight years scanning groups of combat veterans, some with post-traumatic stress disorder and some without, to see which areas of the brain light up when they hear tapes recounting their most troubling memories. So far, the signals in the amygdala appear to be more active in those with PTSD than in those without. In addition, signals to the prefrontal cortex of PTSD subjects seem to be weaker than in those without the disorder. Perhaps this explains why the patients still feel threatened even when they are perfectly safe...
BOTTOM LINE: Sometimes, PTSD will not appear until six months after the event. Seek help whenever symptoms occur...
There's no way of knowing exactly who will develop full-blown PTSD in the wake of the recent violence, and early indicators provide conflicting clues. A TIME/CNN poll taken two days after the attacks showed that 34% of Americans will change some aspect of their lives in response to the tragedies. While that also means that more than 60% won't, some people wonder how honest the respondents were being. The public has made a great show of declaring that no terrorist is going to make Americans alter the way they live. And while such swagger has served...