Trauma And Violence

A history of trauma is most uniquely related to which psychiatric disorder? Which medical comorbidities are associated with an increased risk of suicide in older adults? These questions and more.

When counseling trauma victims and patients with PTSD, do you ask them to retell the trauma or do you think this prolongs it?

Here, John Femia, a former police officer and senior investigator, describes his experience as a first responder to scenes of violence and stalking. He offers a profile of those who stalk others; describes different types of stalkers; and focuses in on cyberstalking-all with the mental health clinician in mind.

Randi K. Bregman, LMSW, is the Executive Director of Vera House, Inc. (http://www.verahouse.org/). In this video, she talks about the impact of trauma and violence as defining forces in the lives of those who have been abused.

This article, based on a comprehensive review by Weathers and associates, provides a selective and brief summary of trauma and PTSD assessments in adults.

Rape is always a heinous, ugly, violent, and cruel crime. But the violence and cruelty that are part of all rapes should not be confused with the specifically motivated violence and cruelty that distinguish sexual sadism...

In the second in his series of podcasts, Dr Phillip Resnick answers questions psychiatrists often ask about assessing the risk of violence.

In the first in a series of brief podcasts, Dr. Phillip Resnick answers questions often asked about assessing risk for suicide and violence.

Every case of patient violence against clinicians provides lessons to be learned in safety management. Here: some key points that can enhance physician safety and help minimize the risks.

Emerging research suggests that some individuals with particular types of substance use and abuse may be more likely to engage in suicidal behaviors. For example, those who use opiates, cocaine, or sedatives may have a noticeably higher risk of suicide than those who use other drugs.

The recent mass murders in Arizona are the latest in our country's epidemic of horrible, hate inspired crimes. The 24/7 media punditry and political spinning has been disappointingly off point in a way suggesting that once again we will learn nothing from our mistakes and that such tragedies will continue to recur with distressing frequency.

In this blog, Dr Pols reviews The Politics of War Trauma: The Aftermath of World War II in Eleven European Countries, by Jolande Withuis and Annet Mooij (eds).

Should malingering be considered more likely than factitious disorder when a patient exhibits pseudologia fantastica? What condition persists for longer than 3 months, accompanies a disease process, and is associated with a bodily injury that has not resolved over time? These questions and more in this interactive quiz.

The Arizona Psychiatric Society and the American Psychiatric Association joined together to remember the victims of the Tuscon tragedy. The shooting left 6 dead and 14 others wounded, including US Rep Gabrielle Giffords, who lies in a medically induced coma recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Violence by patients towards staff members is an inherently complex matter for the physically and/or psychologically injured person. An expert in the field of forensic psychiatry answers a reader's question about what clinicians can do in the aftermath of an assault.

Which treatment was found to be detrimental to patients with PTSD? What is the Brøset Violence Checklist used for? These questions and more in this week's quiz.

A funny thing happened to me on the way back from the New Hampshire Governor’s Statewide Conference on Domestic & Sexual Violence. I don’t mean funny in a comedic sense, but rather in an unexpected, shocking sense.

Every year, more than 1 million children are exposed to sexual or physical abuse or neglect in the US. The research summarized here clearly demonstrates that exposure to stress before adulthood can result in persistent effects on both mental and physical health.

The mental health implications of disasters on individuals and communities are enormous. Psychiatrists play a key role in helping to mitigate and lessen the traumatic burden and in fostering resiliency efforts.

The characteristics that bring people into the caring professions are, ironically, the very factors that make them vulnerable to vicarious trauma and job burnout. It is our responsibility to ensure that these adverse outcomes are minimized among those who have chosen such a career.

The recent disaster that trapped 33 Chilean miners for the past 2 months piqued my curiosity as a psychiatric researcher: how will these hearty survivors cope with the aftermath of being buried alive?

The following is a transcript of a podcast by Dr James Lake.

Since the 1980s, there have been growing concerns that chronic cholesterol depletion may actually increase noncardiovascular deaths by suicide and violence-related deaths.

A 3-year study involving over 3,000 patients used motivational interviewing to counsel adolescents about staying away from potentially violent and alcohol-related situations. It was found that these brief sessions “reduced by half the chances that teenagers would experience peer violence or problems due to drinking.”

A Federal appeals court has supported an earlier ruling by a lower court that established the unconstitutionality of gassing disruptive mentally ill inmates in their cells.