Trauma and Anxiety

Sleep spindles are more than just a strange phenomenon that happens during sleep. They play an essential role in soothing PTSD anxiety and enhancing memory retention.

Brief bursts of brain activity during sleep known as sleep spindles could potentially help regulate anxiety in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers believe that the study’s findings may be useful for people with anxiety disorders and are looking at non-invasive ways to harness the benefits of this sleep stage to relieve symptoms. The study also suggests that sleep hygiene, electrical brain stimulation, or prescription sleep medications could promote the sleep spindles associated with non-rapid eye movement 2 (NREM2) sleep and potentially benefit patients with stress and anxiety disorders.

Posttrauma Anxiety and Depression Explained by Previous Trauma – Racial and Ethnic Differences Identified

Background
Racial and ethnic groups in the USA differ in the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent research however has not observed consistent racial/ethnic differences in posttraumatic stress in the early aftermath of trauma, suggesting that such differences in chronic PTSD rates may be related to differences in recovery over time.

Methods
As part of the multisite, longitudinal AURORA study, we investigated racial/ethnic differences in PTSD and related outcomes within 3 months after trauma. Participants (n = 930) were recruited from emergency departments across the USA and provided periodic (2 weeks, 8 weeks, and 3 months after trauma) self-report assessments of PTSD, depression, dissociation, anxiety, and resilience. Linear models were completed to investigate racial/ethnic differences in posttraumatic dysfunction with subsequent follow-up models assessing potential effects of prior life stressors.

Results
Racial/ethnic groups did not differ in symptoms over time; however, Black participants showed reduced posttraumatic depression and anxiety symptoms overall compared to Hispanic participants and White participants. Racial/ethnic differences were not attenuated after accounting for differences in sociodemographic factors. However, racial/ethnic differences in depression and anxiety were no longer significant after accounting for greater prior trauma exposure and childhood emotional abuse in White participants.

Conclusions
The present findings suggest prior differences in previous trauma exposure partially mediate the observed racial/ethnic differences in posttraumatic depression and anxiety symptoms following a recent trauma. Our findings further demonstrate that racial/ethnic groups show similar rates of symptom recovery over time. Future work utilizing longer time-scale data is needed to elucidate potential racial/ethnic differences in long-term symptom trajectories.

The integration of yoga breathing techniques in cognitive behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Click here for the article published by Frontiers in Psychiatry. In trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), stabilization techniques are used before confrontation ones to increase stress/affect tolerance and thus effectiveness of CBT. This study investigated the effects of pranayama, meditative yoga breathing and breath holding techniques, as a complimentary stabilization technique in patients with post-traumatic …

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Can We Unlearn Fear?

Click here for the article published by Psychology Today. How is fear stored in the brain? And why may psychedelic therapies be able to help? Continue reading … Disclaimer: The content of this article has not been checked or verified. Proceed at your own risk.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and associated factors among adult war survivors in Northwest Ethiopia: Community-based, cross-sectional study

Click here for the article published by Frontiers in Psychiatry. A person may endure or witness a traumatic incident, such as being exposed to war, and, as a result, develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). … This study aimed to assess the prevalence of PTSD and associated factors among war survivors in Nefas Meewcha Town, South …

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Associations Between Existential Concerns and Adverse Experiences: A Systematic Review

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Ahead of Print. Exposure to traumatic events or adverse experiences and its consequences have been studied mainly from a posttraumatic stress disorder perspective. Existential psychotherapy focuses on universal human concerns and the anxiety that occurs when a person confronts the conflicts inherent in life and toward death, which include the experience of difficult situations. A systematic review was performed including 56 papers that studied the relations between adverse experiences and existential concerns. The articles were assessed and described in relation to existential domains, type of adverse experience, posttraumatic responses, and existential psychological interventions. Existential concerns appeared in different degrees and categories in studied samples. Outcomes suggest that from an existential psychotherapy perspective, reactions to traumatic events can be both negative and positive for a person. In addition, the pass of time turned out to be an important factor, especially in finding meaning from traumatic experiences, the reduction of negative symptoms, and the achieving of posttraumatic growth. Existential-related interventions described in this review showed positive outcomes, suggesting that it is an effective trauma treatment approach.

From childhood emotional maltreatment to disordered eating: A path analysis.

Click here for the article published by Psychoanalytic Psychology (APA) anxiety. Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol 40(2), Apr 2023, 90-98; doi:10.1037/pap0000438 Childhood emotional maltreatment (i.e., emotional abuse and emotional neglect), attachment, reflective functioning (RF), defense styles, and disordered eating (DE) are associated with each other. … We found significant indirect effects between emotional abuse and neglect and …

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