Here is some of the information I recently shared in an October newsletter. Each newsletter has a specific focus.  This newsletter is focused on PTSD and trauma. If you would be interested in receiving my newsletters, please head over to my contact page and sign up.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Survivors of COVID-19 at risk of PTSD
  2. Metabolic connectivity PET study on EMDR efficiency
  3. Systematic review of effects of online EMDR
  4. Self-administered EMDR therapy for PTSD
  5. Complex PTSD separate condition from PTSD
  6. Centrality and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms
  7. New blood tests may give more accurate PTSD diagnoses
  8. Chronic inflammation removes motivation
  9. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD
  10. Neuromuscular fatigue and PTSD

STUDIES and ARTICLES

I receive a weekly update on anything published on the internet that includes information about PTSD and trauma.  I try to glean the best of the information and provide a brief synopsis of the information. If you come across any information that you think would be good to share, please also feel free to pass that information along to: info@holistichealingarts.net


1. A commentary, published in Global Health Research and Policy in Jun 2020 titled Survivors of COVID-19 are at high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder suggests: Exposure to infectious disease epidemics results in a particular type of psychological trauma, which could be categorized into three groups. The first is directly experiencing and suffering from the symptoms and traumatic treatment. The second is witnessing of patients who suffer from, struggle against, and die of the infectious disease, which has a direct impact on fellow patients, family members of patients, or people who directly provide aids and care for the patients. The third is experiencing the realistic or unrealistic fear of infection, social isolation, exclusion, and stigmatization which directly affects patients, family members, care and help providers, or even the general public….With considerations of the already large and still increasing number of people exposed to the current COVID-10, we believe it urgent to provide mental health service targeted at prevention of PTSD to survivors and other people exposed to COVID-19. Possible strategies include, but are not limited to, health education, psycho-social support, counseling service to the general population, as well as early intervention, including psycho-social support, psychotherapies, and pharmacological treatments to vulnerable and high-risk groups.

2.  A study titled Involvement of the cerebellum in EMDR efficiency: a metabolic connectivity PET study in PTSD, published in European Journal of Psychotraumatology in 2020 concludes: The posterior cerebellum and its metabolic connectivity with the precuneus are involved in the clinical efficiency of EMDR in PTSD.

3. A systematic review titled PTSD treatment in times of COVID-19: a systematic review of the effects of online EMDR, published in Psychiatry Res in Aug 2020 concludes: only one trial was identified--an uncontrolled open trial which showed promising results.

4. A study titled Self-administered EMDR therapy: potential solution for expanding the availability of psychotherapy for PTSD or unregulated recipe for disaster? published in BJPsych Open in 2020 suggests:  There is emerging evidence that self-administered psychological therapies, such as those accessed via online and mobile applications, are efficacious for many mental illnesses and increase access to treatment. Online and mobile applications offering self-help tools for eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, an internationally recommended treatment for PTSD, are already widely distributed to the public.

5. A research article titled Focused treatment outcome for complex PTSD patients: results of an intensive treatment program published in European Journal of Psychotraumatology in 2020 explains that Complex PTSD has been incorporated in the 11th edition of the ICD-11 as a mental health condition distinct from PTSD and finds the majority of patients classified as having Complex PTSD strongly benefit from intensive trauma-focused treatment.

6. A study titled Change in Event Centrality and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms During Intensive Treatment, published in Journal of Traumatic Stress in Jun 2020 suggests:  Event centrality, defined as the extent to which a traumatic event becomes a core component of a person’s identity, is both a correlate and predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, over and above event severity. These findings suggest that decreasing the perceived centrality of a traumatic event to one’s identity might result in decreases in PTSD symptom severity.

7. An article published on The Veterans Site News, titled This New Blood Test May Give Veterans and Troops More Accurate PTSD Diagnoses offers some promise for those experiencing or likely to experience PTSD. “After six years of research, the Army’s Research Systems Biology and outside biometric studies have been able to identify a set of 27 blood markers that are related to the various symptoms of PTSD and they believe they may be able to develop simple blood tests that can help to identify specific treatments for patients who are currently exhibiting, or better diagnostic tools to identify those who might eventually exhibit, the symptoms of PTSD.”

8. An article, published in News Medical Life Sciences titled Chronic inflammation removes motivation by reducing dopamine in the brain summarizes a study published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Andrew Miller, co-author of the study, says, “If our theory is correct, then it could have a tremendous impact on treating cases of depression and other behavioral disorders that may be driven by inflammation. It would open up opportunities for the development of therapies that target energy utilization by immune cells, which would be something completely new in our field.”

9. A study titled Long-term follow-up outcomes of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD: a longitudinal pooled analysis of six phase-2 trials, published in Psychopharmacology May 2020 concludes: PTSD symptoms were reduced 1 to 2 months after MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, and symptom improvement continued at least 12 months post-treatment. Phase 3 trials are investigating this novel treatment approach in a larger sample of participants with chronic PTSD.

10. A study titled Neurophysiological relationship of neuromuscular fatigue and stress disorder in PTSD patients, published in Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies in Aug 2020 concludes: stress disorders may affect the time to fatigue in PTSD patients and subsequently cause some difficulties in their daily life.

 

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