Deployment Psychology Blog

Staff Perspective: Stellate ganglion block for PTSD

By Michael Jones  on 17.06.2015 2:36 pm

As clinicians who veterans and active service members, many of us see residual symptoms following successful treatment. We have patients who have successfully completed exposure treatment who were very capable of rehearsing their traumas and reducing their anxiety, yet some of them continue to show stubborn residual agitation. Their stories have become more coherent as they work through successive exposures, they progress through in vivo experiences, and their functioning improves. Their description sounds like their baseline anxiety level has gone from 3 to 5.

By the Numbers - June 15, 2015

By Shirl Kennedy  on 15.06.2015 2:39 pm

12x

The rate at which female veterans between the ages of 18-29 are killing themselves, compared to a similar population of nonveterans, according to a study published online before print in the journal Psychiatric Services -- Changes in Suicide Mortality for Veterans and Nonveterans by Gender and History of VHA Service Use, 2000–2010. When all age groups are taken into consideration, the researchers found, women who have served in the military commit suicide at roughly 6x the rate of women who did not serve.

CDP News: June 12, 2015

By Christopher Adams  on 12.06.2015 2:45 pm

Welcome to this week’s edition of CDP News! We like to use this space to review recent happenings in and around the Center for Deployment Psychology, while also looking ahead to upcoming events. It’s been a very busy week around here and we’ve got plenty coming up on the horizon as well!

Research Update: June 11, 2015

By Shirl Kennedy  on 11.06.2015 12:39 pm

The CDP's weekly research update contains the latest news, journal articles and useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include:

● Risk of Suicide Among US Military Service Members Following Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom Deployment and Separation From the US Military.
● Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Staff Perspective: Recommended Summer Reading and a Review - Heavier than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain

By Elizabeth Parins  on 10.06.2015 12:55 pm
Heavier than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain

Several years ago I attended a workshop taught by David Rudd on managing suicidal patients in which he discussed former Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain as an example of someone who exhibited significant risk factors and warning signs for suicide.  Recently, while reviewing materials for the two-day Suicide Prevention workshop I was struck by how often Thomas Joiner also mentions Cobain to illustrate his Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.  In the references of Joiner’s book, Why People Die by Suicide (2005) he cites Charles Cross’s biography of Kurt Cobain, Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, (2001).  I decided to gain a better understanding of how Rudd and Joiner’s theories might look in a real person I should read Heavier than Heaven.  

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