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Photos New PTSD Clinic uses virtual reality Dr. Alan Maiers (left), the assistant chief of the Warrior Resiliancy Program at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, simulates a virtual reality city patrol Aug. 26 for Maj. Monty Baker, the Warrior Resiliancy Program director of research. The virtual reality program is designed to treat servicemembers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder after returning from combat operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Amber Bressler) Download HiRes Wilford Hall opens new PTSD Clinic Posted 9/17/2009 Email story Print story by Linda Frost 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs 9/17/2009 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Wilford Hall Medical Center has a new clinic to treat patients who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. The PTSD Clinic offers evidence-based treatments and a virtual reality program to help Airmen returning from combat operations. PTSD is an anxiety disorder which can occur after a person has been through a traumatic event, according to the National Center for PTSD. "We want to provide the highest quality care possible for patients experiencing PTSD," said Col. (Dr.) Gerald Talcott, 59th Medical Wing Mental Health Squadron commander. As part of the Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, the PTSD Clinic was created in response to the increasing number of service and family members with PTSD. It is timely in that it coincides with the establishment of the Air Force's new Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, a pilot program initiated at eight Air Force bases. The Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, using a computer-simulated Virtual Iraq and Virtual Afghanistan, allows Airmen to interact and recreate a traumatic scene and recall sights, sounds, smells, thoughts and feelings. Still in its preliminary stages, the clinic staff started seeing patients Aug. 3, and is led by Dr. Kellie Crowe, staff psychologist. "We are very excited about providing evidence-based treat

Veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a significantly higher risk of developing dementia compared with veterans who don't have the disorder, a study reports today.

TUESDAY, Dec. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A decade-long study into post-traumatic stress disorder among combat veterans and their identical twins has yielded critical information on the root causes of this devastating condition. The researchers found that both genetic and environmental factors increase the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The work, to be presented Tuesday at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., was sponsored by both the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health and the Veterans Administration.

The Defense Department is deeply committed to providing the best care possible for military members with post-traumatic stress disorder, despite the determination that the disorder does not meet the criteria for the Purple Heart, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said yesterday.

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) is one of many parts of the Department of Defense (DoD) that is undertaking initiatives to promote the prevention, early identification and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and substance use disorders.

Humana Military Healthcare Services, TRICARE contractor for the South Region, is partnering with the University of Louisville to jointly sponsor a new continuing medical education course (CME) for physicians. Civilian providers throughout the country will have access to an online course on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

A new study of US veterans suggests that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and metabolic syndrome, the group of symptoms that increases heart disease and diabetes risk, may be linked. Dr Pia S. Heppner of the Veterans Affairs San Diego Health System in La Jolla and her colleagues found that the more severe a person's PTSD symptoms, the more likely they were to also have the metabolic syndrome. Evidence is mounting that exposure to trauma can worsen physical health, including increasing heart disease risk, Heppner and her team note in the journal BMC Medicine.

White, 37, of Cromwell, is an outreach counselor at the Hartford Vet Center in Rocky Hill. He is a member of a new breed of counselors hired by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in an attempt to avoid the Vietnam-era mistake of ignoring post-traumatic stress disorder and other readjustment problems experienced by soldiers returning from war zones. He was hired in 2004, one of about 50 counselors recruited because they had served in Iraq.

The National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) aims to advance the clinical care and social welfare of U.S. Veterans through research, education and training on PTSD and stress-related disorders. This site is an educational resource on PTSD and traumatic stress, for veterans and also for mental health care providers, researchers and the general public.

More than 44 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have sought treatment at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility have been diagnosed with one or more possible mental disorders, according to the agency's most recent summary of veteran health care.

The Veterans Affairs Department is taking steps to help veterans seeking compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced today.

A new study has found that more than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who enrolled in the veterans health system after 2001 received a diagnosis of a mental health problem, most often post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.

The Army has dropped Lariam - the drug linked to side effects including suicidal tendencies, anxiety, aggression and paranoia - as its preferred protection against malaria because doctors had inadvertently prescribed it to people who should not take it. Lariam, the brand name for mefloquine, should not be given to anyone with symptoms of a brain injury, depression or anxiety disorder, which describes many troops who have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

At least half of those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder smoke, but scientists says the nicotine probably makes their symptoms worse in the long run.

TMA is offering a pilot program that delivers post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury (PTSD/TBI) education to civilian behavioral health providers in a convenient, online setting. The new civilian provider portal can be accessed at http://www.health.mil/civilianprovidereducation.

A group of researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children have erased brain cells in mice that store fearful memories, holding out the hope that terrifying memories in humans may one day be erased before causing conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. While the sights and sounds of a terrifying blast or crash would stay intact, the memory of the fear it caused could conceivably be erased, the researchers suggest. Their work appears today in the journal Science.

Alexian Bros. unveils simulator to help veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Doctor uses music's healing power PBS special titled "Healthy Minds," a 13-part educational series in its second season on New York's WLIW 21. The show will focus on how soldiers deal with post traumatic stress disorder and how military and medical personnel are helping alleviate it. The program will focus on music, and how it helps patients come to terms with their war memories and experiences. The doctor's poetry, another element inspired by her therapeutic sessions, will also be featured on the program.

he show follows three service members as they adjust to civilian life living with PTSD.

The Purple Heart will not be awarded to service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.