Women who served in Vietnam have higher odds of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than women stationed during that era in the United States, and this effect appears to be associated with wartime exposures including sexual discrimination or harassment and job performance pressures, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry. During the Vietnam era, […]
Military, Veterans, Military Families
Effect of Attention Training on Attention Bias Variability and PTSD Symptoms
A computerized attention-control training program significantly reduced combat veterans’ preoccupation with – or avoidance of — threat and attendant PTSD symptoms. By contrast, another type of computerized training, called attention bias modification – which has proven helpful in treating anxiety disorders – did not reduce PTSD symptoms. NIMH and Israeli researchers conducted parallel trials in […]
Pre-Enlistment Mental Disorders and Suicidality among New US Army Soldiers
Two new studies suggest that while individuals enrolling in the armed forces do not share the exact psychological profile as socio-demographically comparable civilians, they are more similar than previously thought. The first study found that new soldiers and matched civilians are equally likely to have experienced at least one major episode of mental illness in […]
Family Support, Family Stress, and Suicidal Ideation in a Combat-Exposed Sample of Veterans
Family support during deployment is an important protective factor against post-deployment suicidal ideation according to a new study. Suicidal ideation includes thoughts that can range from fleeting consideration of suicide to the development of a specific plan for killing oneself. Research on suicidal ideation in veterans who served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in […]
Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Effects on Post-Treatment Suicide Attempts in a Military Sample
Short-term cognitive behavioral therapy dramatically reduces suicide attempts among at-risk military personnel, according to findings from a research study that included investigators from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The two-year study, funded by the Army’s Military Operational Medicine Research Program, was conducted at Fort Carson, Colo. It involved 152 active-duty […]
Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia on Suicidal Ideation in Veterans
A new study is the first to show that the treatment of insomnia in veterans is associated with a significant reduction in suicidal ideation. Results show that suicidal ideation decreased by 33 percent following up to six sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Further analysis found that the reduction in insomnia severity achieved […]