Making soldiers safe at home is essential for mental health
Drummer Lee Rigby died from multiple stab wounds after being attacked outside Woolwich barracks last Wednesday – AP The brutal killing of Drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich has raised serious questions about the safety of our soldiers at home, and how such violence could affect their recovery from the psychological toll of [...]
Defence White Paper focuses on mental health
With Australia’s role in Afghanistan winding down, there’ll be more young veterans returning from the front line than at any point since the Vietnam war. It’s likely to increase demand on mental health services. The new Defence White Paper includes a $25 million boost to help service personnel and their families deal with the problem. [...]
Abused Children May Get Unique Form of PTSD
Joe Mikos / Getty Images Child abuse scars not just the brain and body, but, according to the latest research, but may leave its mark on genes as well. The research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that abused children who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may experience [...]
Mental health before centenary: RSL boss
State president Chris Munday says he’d prefer federal government money be spent on treating conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2015 than on the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. “We’re spending about $150-odd million on the centenary,” Mr Munday said. “I’d like to be sure that enough money is being spent on [...]
Gillard confronted by soldier with PTSD
Video: Julia Gillard admits to a returned soldier that support for returning military personnel need work. (ABC News) Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been confronted on talkback radio by a soldier who complained about a lack of support for mentally ill veterans. The man who identified himself as “Adam” says he returned from Afghanistan with [...]
One in three ventilated people with ALI shows substantial PTSD symptoms
One in three people who survived stays in an intensive care unit (ICU) and required use of a mechanical ventilator showed substantial post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms that lasted for up to two years, according to a new Johns Hopkins study of patients with acute lung injury. Because acute lung injury (ALI) – a syndrome [...]
Defence ‘ill-prepared’ for PTSD time bomb
Click to play video Soldiers who have served in Afghanistan say the Defence Department is unprepared for the number of servicemen who will return with post-traumatic stress disorder. Ray and Pam Palmer, the parents of commando Scott Palmer, who was killed in Afghanistan, are among those who believe the impact will be much higher than [...]
Defence leadership on soldier welfare comes from the top
Championing the mental health cause for the Australian Defence Force … Major-General John Cantwell. Photo: Steve Cassell Major-General John Cantwell has told a parliamentary inquiry the Defence Force needs to continue its efforts to de-stigmatise mental health problems if it is to deal with the growing number of veterans returning from operations with post traumatic [...]
Depression links PTSD to life quality in bipolar disorder
By Liam Davenport, medwireNews Reporter The association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mental health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among individuals with bipolar disorder may be mediated by depressive symptoms, the results of a US study indicate. “These findings underscore the importance of proper screening and treatment for these two debilitating conditions because impairments in [...]
What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
By Mark Creamer, University of Melbourne People have probably always known about the psychological effects of experiencing life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, or violent assault. Literature through the ages – some of it thousands of years old – provides many vivid portrayals of these internal struggles to recover from horrific experiences. It [...]
