Is there an exercise that can boost feel-good chemicals in your brain while reducing anxiety and improving your mood? The answer is yes – it’s yoga. Now yoga isn’t the only exercise that’s been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety, but Chris Streeter, MD and her colleagues from the Boston University School of Medicine […]
Can Traumatic Memories Be Changed?
Experiences that are distressing, painful and, perhaps, even traumatic are unavoidable in life. But are there ways we can work with people to prevent memories of traumatic events from developing into PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)? One possibility that’s being investigated for accomplishing this is a method called “updating.” This approach uses verbal techniques to change […]
Trauma and the Brain: Why Congress is Finally Helping Traumatized Veterans
On February 12, 2015, President Obama signed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act. The purpose of this act is to provide help to US veterans suffering from PTSD. This legislation provides funding for the study of new trauma treatment strategies as well as for recruiting more mental health practitioners to work with […]
Old Before Their Time: The Effect of PTSD on Children’s Telomeres
How does trauma affect the brain? Well, one way we can look at that is to look at how trauma affects 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 […]
Is Chronic Worry Linked to Increased Likelihood of PTSD?
Is it possible that chronic worry may be linked to an increased likelihood of developing PTSD? I can remember my father telling me, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (The Bible was quoted often in […]