For those struggling with trauma, substances such as drugs and alcohol can seem to offer a way to cope with emotional pain. It’s a false promise, of course. The numbing effects of the drink or the drug will eventually wear off, and the pain will return in force. And with it often comes a new…
Complex PTSD occurs when a person has been exposed to long-term trauma, such as ongoing domestic violence, forced prostitution, being held hostage or long-term childhood abuse. Most people who suffer from complex PTSD experience problems with regulating their emotions, memory problems, dissociation, difficulty trusting others, having stable relationships, and problems with self-perceptions of guilt, shame,…
A new, modified screening tool can help doctors identify female veterans exposed to intimate partner violence, recent research from a group of U.S. institutions indicates.
The beheading by terrorists of a third hostage over the weekend with threats to kill other captives prompted psychological experts to warn the public that viewing the ghastly videos can cause trauma. The slaying of British aid worker David Cawthorne Haines – which Prime Minister David Cameron called “evil” – was seen in a video…
When I was 5 years old, I changed my name to Susan Cinderella and invented a world where a cat was my mother and all the other grown-ups were animals, too. I loved climbing trees, wearing my brother’s too-big Levis overalls and running in soybean fields without shoes. I sniffed the roadside buttercups. I wanted…
by Carolyn Hughes Childhood trauma left me battling with depression and alcoholism for over 20 years. Yet I could have recovered from both much sooner had I appreciated the damaging role that negative thinking played in my illness.
Neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury is a mental health condition that sometimes arises in the long-term aftermath of a physical injury that results in brain damage. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) classifies this condition along with other types of neurocognitive disorder in the reference text for mental health professionals called the Diagnostic and…
Extensive exposure to Boston Marathon bombing media coverage caused more acute stress in people watching on TV, online or listening to radio reports than in those experiencing the terrorist attack itself, researchers at UC Irvine have found. Even the study authors who specialize in researching trauma impacts said they were startled by their findings: People…
It has long been known that trauma at a young age can make a person vulnerable to a number of mental illnesses as well as addiction. Recently, however, researchers have made advances into understanding exactly why this is and specifically how trauma is linked to depression and addiction. Traumatic events during childhood actually change the…
To be at risk for sex addiction, two psychological preconditions seem to exist during childhood: