Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that can develop after exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, or other threats on a person's life. Symptoms may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues, attempts to avoid trauma-related cues, alterations in the way a person thinks and feels, and an increase in the fight-or-flight response. These symptoms last for more than a month after the event. Young children are less likely to show distress, but instead may express their memories through play. A person with PTSD is at a higher risk of suicide and intentional self-harm.
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, west-southwest of Altoona and 56 miles (90 km) east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the time of the 2010 census and estimated to be 19,195 in 2019. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County.
A veteran is a person who has a long career in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who has served and is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has served directly in combat in a war is further defined as a war veteran.
Mental health, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". According to WHO, mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence, and self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others". From the perspectives of positive psychology or of holism, mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and to create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how one defines "mental health".
Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening, or counseling. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, as equals to give each other connection and support on a reciprocal basis.
Mental health in China is a growing issue. Experts have estimated that about 173 million people living in China are suffering from a mental disorder. The desire to seek treatment is largely hindered by China's strict social norms, as well as religious and cultural beliefs regarding personal reputation and social harmony. While the Chinese government is committed to expanding mental health care services and legislation, the country struggles with a lack of mental health professionals and access to specialists in rural areas.
Psychiatric and mental health nurses in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps employing groundbreaking protocols and treatments in psychiatric issues to address the unique challenges that our service men and women face, more commonly post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Most people understand that trauma exposure is a popular occupational hazard for military members. Psychiatric screenings, before and during their enlistment, and treatments after being exposed to warfare, death, destruction, and torture have been extremely beneficial for military personnel and their dependents.
Animal-assisted therapy is an alternative or complementary type of therapy that includes the use of animals in a treatment. It falls under the realm of Animal Assisted Intervention, which encompasses any intervention that includes an animal in a therapeutic context such as emotional support animals, service animals trained to assist with daily activities, and animal assisted activity. Animal-assisted therapy can be classified by the type of animal, the targeted population, and how the animal is incorporated into the therapeutic plan. The most commonly used types of animal-assisted therapy are canine-assisted therapy and equine-assisted therapy. The goal of animal-assisted therapy is to improve a patient's social, emotional, or cognitive functioning and literature reviews state that animals can be useful for educational and motivational effectiveness for participants. Studies have documented the positive effects of the therapy as reported on subjective self-rating scales and on objective physiological measures such as blood pressure and hormone levels.
Military psychiatry covers special aspects of psychiatry and mental disorders within the military context. The aim of military psychiatry is to keep as many serving personnel as possible fit for duty and to treat those disabled by psychiatric conditions. Military psychiatry encompasses counseling individuals and families on a variety of life issues, often from the standpoint of life strategy counseling, as well as counseling for mental health issues, substance abuse prevention and substance abuse treatment; and where called for, medical treatment for biologically based mental illness, among other elements.
Prolonged exposure therapy (PE) is a form of behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. It is characterized by two main treatment procedures – imaginal and in vivo exposures. Imaginal exposure is repeated 'on-purpose' retelling of the trauma memory. In vivo exposure is gradually confronting situations, places, and things that are reminders of the trauma or feel dangerous. Additional procedures include processing of the trauma memory and breathing retraining.
As defined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, military sexual trauma (MST) are experiences of sexual assault, or repeated threatening sexual harassment that occurred while a person was in the United States Armed Forces.
Military psychology is a specialization within psychology that applies psychological science to promote the readiness of military members, organizations, and operations. Military psychologists provide support to the military in many ways, including through direct clinical care, consultation to military commanders, teaching others and supporting military training, and through research relevant to military operations and personnel. The stressors associated with military service are many to include exposure to high-risk training and combat. As such, psychologists are critical support components that assist military leaders in designing appropriate training programs, providing oversight to those programs, and assisting military members as they navigate the challenges of military training and military life in general. Most issues facing military members are not that dissimilar from those faced by their civilian counterparts. Specific examples of the issues faced by military personnel that may be somewhat distinct include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with combat, or guilt and family/partner difficulties accompanying extended or frequent deployments due to separation. Clinical providers in military psychology are often focused on the treatment of stress, fatigue, and other personal readiness issues.
Raymond Monsour Scurfield is an American professor emeritus of social work, The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast. He is in private practice with Rivers Psycotherapy Services, 411 Security Square,Gulfport MS; and he has been the external clinical consultant to the Biloxi VA Vet Center, 2011-current. He has been recognized for his expertise in war-related and natural disaster Psychological trauma. He has published books and articles exploring the effects of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in both combat veterans and disaster survivors, including a trilogy of books about war’s impact. The trilogy’s third installment, War Trauma: Lessons Unlearned from Vietnam to Iraq, was published in October 2006. His three newest books are Scurfield, R.M. & Platoni, K.T. (Eds.). War Trauma & Its Wake. Expanding the Circle of Healing. New York & London: Routledge (2012); Scurfield, R.M. & Platoni, K.T. (Eds).Healing War Trauma. A Handbook of Creative Approaches. New York & London (2013); and Faith-Based and Secular Meditation: Everyday and Posttraumatic Applications. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press (2019)(see review on Amazon.com books).
Combat Stress is a registered charity in the United Kingdom offering therapeutic and clinical community and residential treatment to former members of the British Armed Forces who are suffering from a range of mental health conditions; including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Combat Stress makes available treatment for all Veterans who are suffering with mental illness free of charge.
The Conemaugh Valley School District is a tiny, rural, public school district operating in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The district serves the Boroughs of Daisytown, East Conemaugh and Franklin and Conemaugh Township and East Taylor Township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The district encompasses just 22 square miles (57 km2). According to 2010 US Census Bureau data, the resident population has declined to 6,599 people. Per 2000 federal census data, it served a resident population of 6,960 people. The educational attainment levels for the Conemaugh Valley School District population were 77.6% high school graduates and 20.9% college graduates. The district is one of the 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania.
The Millennium Cohort Study is an ongoing longitudinal cohort study headquartered at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, California and designed to evaluate any long-term health effects of military service, including deployments. It is the largest population-based prospective health project in US military history, currently collecting data on over 200,000 enrolled participants. Investigators that conduct the Millennium Cohort Study include uniformed and non-uniformed scientists from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Veterans Affairs and academic institutions.
The United States has compensated military veterans for service-related injuries since the Revolutionary War, with the current indemnity model established near the end of World War I. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began to provide disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the 1980s after the diagnosis became part of official psychiatric nosology.
United States military veteran suicide is an ongoing phenomenon regarding the high rate of suicide among U.S. military veterans in comparison to the general civilian public. A focus on preventing veteran suicide began in 1958 with the opening of the first suicide prevention center in the United States. During the mid 1990s, a paradigm shift in addressing veteran suicide occurred with the development of a national strategy which included several Congressional Resolutions. More advancements were made in 2007, when the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act created a comprehensive program including outreach at each Veterans Affairs Office (VA) and the implementation of a 24-hour crisis hotline. PTSD, depression, and combat-related guilt in veterans are often related to suicide as it can be difficult for veterans to transition to civilian life.
Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) is a not-for-profit philanthropic organization that serves post-9/11 veterans and their families through a nationwide system of mental health clinics. CVN's headquarters are in Stamford, Connecticut, United States.
The TAMAR Education Project is a manualized 10-week mental health intervention for justice-involved women and men with histories of psychological trauma which combines psycho-educational approaches and expressive therapies. It is designed for clients who have a recent treatment history for a mental health condition, a substance use disorder, and a history of physical and/or sexual abuse. TAMAR Groups have been implemented inside detention centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and in the community.
