From the New York Times: New treatments for PTSD

For Veterans, a Surge of New Treatments for Trauma
You name it, and it’s being used somewhere in the veterans’ health system: The National Intrepid Center in Washington is one of many places using acupuncture to treat stress-related anxiety and sleep disorders; it has been shown to be effective against PTSD. At the New Orleans V.A., the same clinicians who ran Trin’s group also did a small study using yoga. They found vets liked it and attendance was excellent. The yoga reduced the veterans’ hyperarousal and helped them sleep. There is even a group in the Puget Sound V.A. Hospital in Seattle that treats PTSD — including among Navy Seals — using the Buddhist practice of “loving kindness meditation.” (“We had a little bit of debate about changing the name,” said Dr. David Kearney, who led the group. “But we decided to keep it, and it worked out just fine.”) NYT

New study shows PTSD symptoms reduced in combat-exposed military via integrative medicine

Scripps study in Military Medicine reveals reduced depression, cynicism among US Marines

Healing touch combined with guided imagery (HT+GI) provides significant clinical reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms for combat-exposed active duty military, according to a study released in the September issue of Military Medicine.

The report finds that patients receiving these complementary medicine interventions showed significant improvement in quality of life, as well as reduced depression and cynicism, compared to soldiers receiving treatment as usual alone. Eurekalert!

New Article from the Journal of Clinical Psychology

Effects of Participat​ion in a Mindfulnes​s Program for Veterans With Posttrauma​tic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study
Forty-seven veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 37 male, 32 Caucasian) were randomized to treatment as usual (TAU; n = 22), or MBSR plus TAU (n = 25). PTSD, depression, and mental health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were assessed at baseline, posttreatment, and 4-month follow-up. Standardized effect sizes and the proportion with clinically meaningful changes in outcomes were calculated. Kearney DJ, McDermott K, Malte C, Martinez M, Simpson TL. J Clin Psychol. 2012 Aug 28. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 22930491
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Link to related article from 2012 in Journal of Clinical Psychology by Kearney et. al.:
Association of participation in a mindfulness program with measures of PTSD, depression and quality of life in a veteran sample.  (PDF)
Kearney DJ, McDermott K, Malte C, Martinez M, Simpson TL.
J Clin Psychol. 2012 Jan;68(1):101-16. doi: 10.1002/jclp.20853. Epub 2011 Nov 28.
PMID: 2212518

Potential paradigmatic shift within the field of psychiatry

Serotonergic hallucinogens and emerging targets for addiction pharmacotherapies.
The ability of these medicinal tools (ex: psilocybin) to treat a range of addictive, psychiatric, and existential disorders is remarkable in scope and possibility. They truly represent a potential paradigmatic shift within the field of psychiatry, too interesting to not explore further. Ross S. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2012 Jun;35(2):357-74. PMID:22640760  PDF (with subscription)

Top Five Posts Accessed This Year.

Recent TED Talks is a nice fit with the essence of this website. Mar 15, 2012
New article from journal Behavior Modification: mindfulness, mantra, and compassion meditation as a treatment for PTSD Jun 9, 2012
Alternative Therapies on the Rise Among Clients With PTSD Mar 4, 2012
From the New York Times: a transcendent article on the use of psilocybin by cancer patients Apr 21, 2012

 

Magic Mushrooms Possible Treatment for Depression, PTSD, Addiction and Cluster Headaches
Jan 25, 2012

New article from Current Biology promoting use of psilocybin for depression

Neuroimaging: a scanner, colourfully.
Two recent studies report changes in human brain responses after exposure to psilocybin, the active ingredient of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Psilocybin increased sensory cortex responses during emotional recollection, but decreased resting-state blood flow in prefrontal cortex, with potential implications for treating depression. Roiser JP, Rees G. Curr Biol. 2012 Apr 10;22(7):R231-3. PMID: 22497939
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And here is a recent article that describes the use of Ayahuasca for depression:

Antidepressant Effects of a Single Dose of Ayahuasca in Patients With Recurrent Depression: A SPECT Study.
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian botanical hallucinogenic brew which contains dimethyltryptamine, a 5-HT2A receptor agonist, and harmine, a monoamine-oxidase A inhibitor. Our group recently reported that ayahuasca administration was associated with fast-acting antidepressive effects in 6 depressive patients. The objective of the present work was to assess the antidepressive potentials of ayahuasca in a bigger sample and to investigate its effects on regional cerebral blood flow. In an open-label trial conducted in an inpatient psychiatric unit, 17 patients with recurrent depression received an oral dose of ayahuasca (2.2 mL/kg) and were evaluated with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Young Mania Rating Scale, and the Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale during acute ayahuasca effects and 1, 7, 14, and 21 days after drug intake. Blood perfusion was assessed eight hours after drug administration by means of single photon emission tomography. Ayahuasca administration was associated with increased psychoactivity (Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale) and significant score decreases in depression-related scales (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) from 80 minutes to day 21. Increased blood perfusion in the left nucleus accumbens, right insula and left subgenual area, brain regions implicated in the regulation of mood and emotions, were observed after ayahuasca intake. Ayahuasca was well tolerated. Vomiting was the only adverse effect recorded, being reported by 47% of the volunteers. Our results suggest that ayahuasca may have fast-acting and sustained antidepressive properties. These results should be replicated in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.
Sanches RF, de Lima Osório F, Dos Santos RG, Macedo LR, Maia-de-Oliveira JP, Wichert-Ana L, de Araujo DB, Riba J, S Crippa JA, Hallak JE.
J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2015 Dec 8. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 26650973
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PTSD, Mindfulness and Yoga: Huffington 08/07/2012

Yoga: How We Serve Our Veterans
This is an interview with Felice Brenner, who had been working as a "headhunter" for 20 years to become a full-time yoga instructor. She teaches two classes a week at the Veterans Administration in Boston, Jamaica Plains campus. This year, Felice received the Outstanding Federal Volunteer award from the VA Boston Healthcare System for her service and commitment. Huffington Post

New Study on PTSD in the Journal Mindfulness

A Prospective Investigation of Mindfulness Skills and Changes in Emotion Regulation Among Military Veterans in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment

We prospectively investigated associations between mindfulness and changes in the use of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal occurring during a residential treatment program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The sample consisted of 50 male veterans who were assessed with the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills at treatment intake, and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and PTSD Checklist—Military Version at treatment intake and discharge. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that greater nonjudgmental acceptance at intake predicted greater reductions in expressive suppression (p < .05) and less improvement in cognitive reappraisal (p < .05) between treatment intake and discharge. Additionally, greater ability to observe thoughts, emotions, and sensations at intake was associated with less improvement in cognitive reappraisal between treatment intake and discharge (p < .05). Findings remained significant after statistically adjusting for treatment-related changes in PTSD symptoms.

Mindfulness

2012, DOI: 10.1007/s12671-012-0131-4

Lancet: a new editorial on psychedelic research

Shaping the renaissance of psychedelic research
Psychedelic drugs have a rich and vibrant history as clinical aids for psychiatry. For two decades after the discovery of lysergide (LSD) in the 1940s, psychedelics were extensively studied and clinical progress was good. But research collapsed rapidly in 1966 when LSD was made illegal, and there was a subsequent hiatus of psychedelic research. After 40 years, this pause is now coming to an end, with many new studies and a refreshing approach to the research of psychedelic drugs. Lancet. 2012 Jul 21;380(9838):200-1. No abstract available. PMID: 22817963

New Institute of Medicine Report Assessing PTSD Treatments at the DoD and the VA

Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Initial Assessment (read free online)
As the U.S. reduces its military involvement in the Middle East, the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) anticipate that increasing numbers of returning veterans will need PTSD services. As a result, Congress asked the DoD, in consultation with the VA, to sponsor an IOM study to assess both departments’ PTSD treatment programs and services. This first of two mandated reports examines some of the available programs to prevent, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate those who have PTSD and encourages further research that can help to improve PTSD care.

(From page 257)
Many CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) approaches are being used by people with PTSD as reported in the popular press, but these approaches are not necessarily being formally studied to assess their efficacy.

Be the witness: a mindfulness technique for tempering anger

'Self-distancing' can help people calm aggressive reactions, study finds
A new study reveals a simple strategy that people can use to minimize how angry and aggressive they get when they are provoked by others. MedicalXpress

Researcher urges British governments to facilitate, not hinder, research with psychedelics.

Dr. David Nutt

Psychedelic drugs can unlock mysteries of brain – former government adviser
 Scientists should have access to illegal psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin to aid them in brain research, according to the government's former drug adviser Professor David Nutt. He said that research into the deepest mysteries of the brain, including consciousness and mental illness, had been curtailed by the prohibition of the drugs.

"Neuroscience should be trying to understand how the brain works," said Nutt, who is professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London. "Psychedelics change the brain in, perhaps, the most profound way of any drug, at least in terms of understanding consciousness and connectivity. Therefore we should be doing a lot more of this research.

"Regulations, which are arbitrary, actually make it virtually impossible to research these drugs," said Nutt last month. "The effect these laws have had on research is greater than the effects that [George] Bush stopping stem cell research has had, because it's been going on since the 1960s." The Guardian

Institute of Noetic Sciences interviews Johns Hopkins psilocybin researcher Roland Griffiths

Roland Griffiths and Cassandra Vieten
Download as mp3

Link to audio: "Psilocybin and quantum change in attitude and behavior"

The overall finding that psilocybin can occasion, in most people studied, mystical-type experiences having sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance, indicates that such experiences and the changes they produce are now amenable to rigorous prospective scientific study.  Several ongoing studies are discussed, including a study of psilocybin on meditation and spiritual practice in healthy volunteers, a study of psilocybin in psychologically distressed cancer patients, and a study of psilocybin-facilitated treatment of drug cigarette smoking cessation. Noetic.org

Video presentation by Robin Carhart-Harris, lead author of fMRI study of effects of psilocybin on bloodflow in brain.

Lead author of 2012 British Journal of Psychiatry study ( Implications for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with psilocybin.) discusses his work in video first presented at the Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century, a conference that took place in San Jose, California on April 15-18, 2010.

Poster Presentation From the International Research Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health 2012

P02.135. Measuring mindfulness: which aspects of mindfulness change following a brief telehealth intervention for PTSD (PDF)
The goal of this pilot study was to examine changes in self-reported levels of mindfulness in the context of an 8-week mindfulness telehealth intervention for military veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Niles et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012, 12(Suppl 1):P191

DoD using yoga and meditation help them make better decisions on the battlefield and prevent trauma

A State of Military Mind
For the past year, (Douglas C.) Johnson, a psychologist at the Naval Health Research Center’s Warfighter Performance Lab, in San Diego, has gathered blood and saliva samples from marines before and after they went through training, scanned their brains, recorded their heart rate and respiration, and given them cognitive and behavioral tests. Using this data, Johnson and his colleagues can adjust training to make troops more effective and limit the negative impacts of combat. Pacific Standard

PubMed search for articles on yoga/meditation in the military

Mindfulness-based psychological therapy helps reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients

Mindfulness reduces anxiety and depression in cancer patients

Mindfulness-based psychological therapy is rooted in Buddhist meditation techniques and includes the programmes mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Training and exercises in mindfulness teach the cancer patients to be more conscious of life as it happens instead of worrying about the past and the future. This may be thoughts about their past behaviour having contributed to their disease and fear of what will happen to them in future, including worries about death.

The findings have been published in the most prestigious international journal within clinical psychology research, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

New article from journal Behavior Modification: mindfulness, mantra, and compassion meditation as a treatment for PTSD

The Theoretical and Empirical Basis for Meditation as an Intervention for PTSD.
In spite of the existence of good empirically supported treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), consumers and providers continue to ask for more options for managing this common and often chronic condition. Meditation-based approaches are being widely implemented, but there is minimal research rigorously assessing their effectiveness. This article reviews meditation as an intervention for PTSD, considering three major types of meditative practices: mindfulness, mantra, and compassion meditation. The mechanisms by which these approaches may effectively reduce PTSD symptoms and improve quality of life are presented. Empirical evidence of the efficacy of meditation for PTSD is very limited but holds some promise. Additional evaluation of meditation-based treatment appears to be warranted. 
Lang AJ, Strauss JL, Bomyea J, Bormann JE, Hickman SD, Good RC, Essex M.
Behav Modif. 2012 Nov;36(6):759-86. doi: 10.1177/0145445512441200. Epub 2012 Jun 5. Review.

PMID: 22669968
PDF
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Professor starts class discussing clinical research on psychedelic drugs

Psychedelic studies
Watching his mother struggle with death stirred an interest for (Bruce) Sewick. As a result, he’s studied the clinical use of psychedelic drugs to treat the terminally ill for more than 15 years, and completed his master’s thesis on the topic in 1997.

“It’s all in memory of my mom,” he said.

Now, he’s hoping to pass that knowledge on to others by offering a summer course at College of DuPage called “Psychedelic Mindview” that will explore the role of psychedelic substances throughout history. Mysuburbanlife.com

Prolonged exposure, mindfulness and emotion regulation

Prolonged Exposure, Mindfulness, and Emotion Regulation for the Treatment of PTSD
Although several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of prolonged exposure (PE) for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there are concerns regarding its clinical applications. The exacerbation of symptoms during exposure, poor adherence to treatment, and early treatment dropout are suggested to occur because of an unwillingness for some PTSD clients to confront feared trauma-relevant stimuli and experience anxious arousal during exposure. The application of mindfulness and emotion regulation skills during PE may be a useful substitute for clients’ attempts to escape, avoid, or control anxious arousal during treatment. Lauren A. Frye, C. Richard Spates. Clinical Case Studies 1534650112446850, first published on May 24, 2012 as doi:10.1177/1534650112446850