A number of my military patients – and likely your patients, too, judging by the consultation requests we see – seem to have gotten so used to the effects of getting insufficient sleep they wonder if they don’t really need much sleep. Maybe they’re just short sleepers, they wonder; maybe there’s no need to change their sleep habits
The weekly Research Update contains the latest news, journal articles, useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include:
● 2019–2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study.
● Comparative associations of problematic alcohol and cannabis use with suicidal behavior in U.S. military veterans: A population-based study
● Impact of military culture and experiences on eating and weight-related behavior.
After 14 sessions of an evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) for PTSD, my patient’s improvement was undeniable. His score on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) had decreased from 62 at baseline to 18 at our final session. He described that his trauma memories no longer had a hold over him, they were fading away in a healthy way. When I looked at his final PCL-5, I was pleased to see he had rated all of the items 0 or 1, except for item #20 (trouble falling or staying asleep), which he rated 4. I had hoped this symptom would have improved as treatment progressed, yet no matter how well our work was going, it hardly budged.
