PTSD news stories on Newser

For the Dying, Psychedelic Drugs Ease That Final Trip

Mark Russell — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:45:12 CDT

Psychedelic drugs, once the domain of the free-lovin' hippies of the '60s, are coming under the microscope of very serious scientists of the current decade. A number of studies show that psilocybin, MDMA, and other psychedelics can ease a range of traumas and afflictions including headaches, PTSD, addiction, and for...

Scientists Find 'PTSD Gene'

Kevin Spak — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:21:22 CDT

UCLA researchers think they've found a genetic link to post-traumatic stress disorder. The team studied survivors of a devastating 1988 earthquake in Armenia, which killed 25,000 people, and found that those with a specific pair of genetic variations that has previously been linked to depression were more likely to...

Lawyer: Bales Remembers Only Smell of Bodies

Kevin Spak — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:28:04 CDT

When Robert Bales returned to base after allegedly killing 17 Afghan civilians, he had only a foggy memory of what just happened—a faint smell of gunfire and human bodies, and nothing else. Or at least, that's what he told lawyer John Henry Browne. Browne, who met Bales for the...

Lawyer Has 'Emotional' Talk With Accused Afghan Killer

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:06:29 CDT

Staff Sgt Robert Bales' new layer met with him at Fort Leavenworth today and described the encounter as "emotional," the BBC reports. "What's going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it, I read about it, but it's totally different when you hear about it from somebody who's...

See Something Traumatic? Don't Sleep Right Away

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:52:40 CST

Snoozing after experiencing a traumatic event might forge the negative memories and emotions in the brain, a new study suggests. UMass researchers exposed 100 adults to unsettling images and then allowed half to sleep and kept the other half awake. Twelve hours later, the subjects who stayed up displayed a...

Mt. Rainier Suspect Drowned: Autopsy

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:17:00 CST

The Iraq war veteran suspected of killing a Mount Rainier ranger died from drowning, with hypothermia contributing to his death, his autopsy concludes. Benjamin Colton Barnes was found "face down, totally in the water" of a creek, wearing just jeans, a T-shirt, and one shoe, according to a sheriff's spokesperson....

Mt. Rainier Suspect Found Dead

Polly Davis Doig — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:25:36 CST

The suspected gunman wanted in the murder of a Mount Rainier park ranger has been found dead, reports King 5 News . Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, was found face down in chest-deep snow, and while there's no official cause of death, the AP notes that it appears likely that he froze...

Dogs Get Combat Stress, Too

John Johnson — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:00:54 CST

Post-traumatic stress disorder doesn't affect only humans: About 5% of the military's 650 combat dogs have canine PTSD, reports the New York Times . The diagnosis itself is only about 18 months old and a bit controversial, but military veterinarians are seeing more and more dogs who can no longer perform...

5 Bad Habits That Could Save Your Life

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:53:10 CDT

Bad habits are admittedly, well ... bad for you, unless you have an ailment that a bad habit might cure. Cracked sums up five: Video Games That Cure PTSD. "No, this isn't taken from some press release from Activision"—it's the result of work by the Department of Defense. "It's called...