Is it what you’re eating… or what’s eating you? Recent research shows that lack of family support following psychological trauma in childhood can contribute to life-long eating disorders. It’s fascinating to think that physical malnourishment may reflect a lack of emotional nourishment in a traumatic childhood. Jerica Berge, PhD and colleagues from the University of Minnesota just published a paper this month in Journal of Clinical Nursing demonstrating that too little support during times of abuse, death of a family member and hospitalization can all prove to be powerful triggers for eating disorders. But it’s not always the most obvious…

We all know that trauma impacts us emotionally, but does it also affect our intelligence? A new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests that children who witness their mothers being the victim of abuse, or experience physical or sexual abuse themselves, actually score lower on cognitive tests later in life. Childhood is such an important time. Trauma in childhood can have lifelong consequences because children’s brains are developing. We created a video to show you 4 ways that childhood trauma affects the brain − it’s only 4 minutes long. Click here to sign up. We’ll…

Stress and PTSD can take a toll on our bodies, minds, and spirits, resulting in damage that can age us before our time. That’s not an opinion − it’s been proven scientifically. It’s no secret that I love learning about telomeres, which are protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that keep them from deteriorating. As we age, telomeres naturally get shorter and eventually, die. So they make a great marker of cell aging and thus of overall health. I’ve reported in the past that exercise can help protect telomeres, while stress and depression can increase the rate of telomere…

Will re-naming Post Traumatic-Stress Disorder (PTSD) to Post-Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI) help to reduce patient stigma? According to Matthew Friedman, MD, PhD, the answer is no. In our last post, I talked about whether or not we should drop the “disorder” from PTSD. Now, let’s get into the discussion the American Psychiatric Association is having. In 2011, then-Army Vice Chief of Staff Peter Chiarelli made a motion to the American Psychiatric Association asking them to modify the name of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Chiarelli claimed that labeling the condition as a “disorder” creates the stigma that there is something wrong…

Did you know that only half of the soldiers with trauma are willing to seek treatment? Many are resistant because they do not want their symptoms to be labeled a “disorder”, as in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Can a name alone really be that powerful? According to Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, author of Invisible Heroes, there is a strong move away from using Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to describe the long-term results of severe trauma. Many military personnel dealing with this condition feel stigmatized by being told they have a disorder. Even just the diagnosis of “PTSD” can be devastating to…

There is a new and surprising supporter of complementary and alternative medicine − the United States military. Working with soldiers can be challenging – especially since we are often not familiar with their environment. After getting countless emails we realized this video has touched many people, and so we wanted to repost it. And actually, to our surprise – it’s been viewed by some pretty “high-ups” in the military. In it, Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, shares a story about how she worked with 1st Sergeant Dave Rauls to create a guided imagery introduction that military personnel really get. I think you’ll…