Trauma Blog

Outline by Rachel Cusk
StressPoints
Recent critiques appearing in respected magazines, Harper’s (Self, 2021), The New Yorker (Sehgal, 2022), and the literary website Lit Hub Daily (Johnson, 2022), have attacked contemporary fiction for portraying the effects of psychological trauma as central to the development of their characters’ personalities and motivations and, in the case of autobiographical works, as decisive factors in the authors’ own lives. Sehgal and Self each express concern that the weight given to psychological trauma in recent works supplants older narrative traditions which they hold to reflect a higher level of complexity and sophistication. In addition, both Sehgal and Self seem dubious about the legitimacy of posttraumatic stress disorder as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. They contend that the signs and symptoms described are culturally determined phenomena rather than universal human reactions.

Clinician’s Corner: Revisiting the Topic of Sexual Boundary Violations by ‎Psychotherapists
StressPoints
Drs. Arlene (Lu) Steinberg, Judie Alpert, and I recently co-edited a book entitled Sexual Boundary Violations in Psychotherapy: Facing Transgressions, Indiscretions, and Misconduct (2021). The topic has not received much recent attention in the professional literature, not because it no longer happens, but because it has gone into one of those voids that so often occur with various trauma topics, especially those involving interpersonal violence and aversive sexual misbehavior. We decided to write the book in the context of the numerous disclosures of sexual boundary violations (SBVs) in professional relationships that were brought to public attention due to the #MeToo Movement. Quite a number of these reports involved sexual harassment and other types of transgressions on the part of mental health and other service professionals, and we sought to bring new attention to these issues.

Presidents Message
StressPoints
I know I am not alone in that the ISTSS Annual Meeting is one of the highlights of my year. The opportunity to gather as a community of traumatic stress professionals, to connect with old and new colleagues who become friends, and to learn about all of the cutting-edge science and clinical practice occurring across the globe is uplifting and energizing. One of the highlights of my ISTSS presidency thus far has been collaborating with the talented and hardworking 2022 Annual Meeting Committee Chairs Drs. Jennifer Sumner and Sierra Carter, Co-Chairs Drs. Isaac Galatzer-Levy and Joanne Mouthaan, and ISTSS Staff Members Raven Hardin and Dr. Diane Elmore Borbon. Your Annual Meeting Committee has an exciting and dynamic program in the works.
 

Human Rights and Policy Recognizing Sexual Violence as a War Crime
StressPoints
In April 2022, reports from the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine documented evidence of war crimes that they deemed a human rights and humanitarian crisis after the Russian invasion (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2022). Among many horrific discoveries was the use of sexual violence. By early April, hundreds of cases of sexual violence by Russian forces against Ukrainians had been reported to the Ukraine ombudsman for Human Rights (Jakes, 2022). In one specific instance in Bucha, a group of Ukrainian women aged 14 to 24 were kept imprisoned in a basement and repeatedly raped by Russian soldiers (Limaye, 2022; Ferris-Rotman, 2022). While some assaults during war and conflict may be random attacks by individual soldiers, in other cases, sexual violence is used as an explicit military tactic (Hagen & Yohani, 2010).
 

A Neglected Aspect of Refugee Relief Works: Secondary and Vicarious Traumatic Stress
With the number of refugees (about 80 million at present) increasing in the world recently, the need for refugee service providers (e.g., doctors, psychotherapists, lawyers, interpreters) to support this group and the workload of refugee service providers have also increased. Adverse effects of working with traumatized individuals on mental health are known. The most prominent effects are Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) and Vicarious Traumatic Stress (VTS).

Considerations for treating military-affiliated patients for PTSD in community clinics
Globally, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant mental health issue among military service members and veterans. Within the US, around 13% of veterans have a PTSD diagnosis, with the prevalence of PTSD increasing significantly post-9/11 with conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, resulting in about 11-20 out of every 100 Veterans having PTSD.
 

Student Perspectives: Interventions for Post-Concussion Syndrome Prevention Following ‎Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Recommendations and Future Directions‎
Approximately 2.5 million people present to an emergency department each year due to traumatic brain injury (TBI; Taylor et al., 2017). An estimated 75% of these cases involve mild TBI (mTBI; i.e., concussion) and do not require hospitalization (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center or Injury Prevention and Control, 2003). Thus, individuals are triaged and treated in the emergency department, released to rest at home, and receive outpatient follow-up care as needed. Following mTBI, it is not uncommon for people to experience some physical and sensory symptoms, such as headaches, blurred vision and nausea, and cognitive symptoms, such as difficulties with concentration, disorientation, and trouble sleeping. Most people fully recover from these symptoms within three months of the injury (Permenter et al., 2022). When concussion symptoms persist beyond what is expected in typical recovery (i.e., three months for mTBI), post-concussion syndrome (PCS) may be diagnosed (Permenter et al., 2022). Due to a lack of consensus around specific diagnostic criteria for PCS diagnosis, prevalence estimates vary between 11% to around 30% (Dean et al., 2012; Spinos et al., 2010; Voormolen et al., 2018).

Media Matters: Staying Informed While Staying Safe: A Major Challenge in a World at ‎War Described by the 24-Hour News Cycle
StressPoints
For the past few months, the world has watched in horror as the invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold. Every day, viewers tune in to listen to more televised reports of indiscriminate bombings, civilian casualties, and fears/speculations of nuclear war. When journalists are not discussing the war in Ukraine, they often shift their focus to other fear-inducing topics such as global supply chain shortages, the rise in crime, pandemic deaths, or natural disasters. Reporting on international and local conflicts and other significant events is essential to raising awareness among the public of important issues and allowing journalists to counter misinformation and hold governments to account, yet the constant exposure to traumatic material can also be distressing for many viewers (Pfefferbaum et al., 2014). Although not officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a potential cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there is at least some evidence that media consumption can worsen mental health outcomes among adults and children (Pfefferbaum et al., 2019). Given the central role journalism plays in society and the impact mass media can have on well-being, it is worth exploring how our need for reliable information and connection through the news can be best balanced with our need for psychological safety.