Home / Hypnosis and Success Thinking / Brains Scans Reveal PTSD…

Brains Scans Reveal PTSD…

Today has been a beautiful day, bright and sunny, which allows me to sit comfortably in the garden and keep up to date with new and fresh news on the mind , when interestingly enough I came across some recent research which is due to be presented to the World Psychiatric Association congress in Florence. Whatthey are proposing would indicate a strong possibility of diagnosing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder using  the simple use of a brain scanner. The scientists believe that they can show a physical difference in brain acitivity of PTSD sufferers explaining in concrete terms why the world my not always be so bright for people of this particular disorder.

The researchers at Duke University USA  took 42 US soldiers of which half where definitely diagnosed with PTSD from serving in Afganistan and were asked to perform special memory tests whilst under MRI scanners .

So what is PTSD…? it is anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to one or more traumatic events that have threatened or caused physical harm to an individual and is usually common in those who have been in active service. PTSD is a condition distinct from traumatic stress, which has less intensity and duration, and combat stress, which is transitory. PTSD has also been recognized in the past as railway spine, stress syndrome, shell shock, battle fatigue, traumatic war neurosis, or post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS).

The soldiers of which were both male and female were shown pictures of three similar faces and the following this they were shown pictures of a combat scene and a no-combat scene, such as a man enjoying palying a muscial instrument or a digitally scrambled picture and finally they were presented with a picture of a face again and questioned on what they had just seen.

The investigators at the university carefull examined the part of the brain associated with focus and paying attention to detail and noticed that the PTSD sufferers were more distracted by the scenes of combat and violence than the non-PTSD soldiers. Additionally, the volunteers with PTSD were  rather distracted by both pictures of combat and no-combat and performed extremely poorly in the memory tests of faces that followed.

“This sensitivity to neutral information is consistent with the PTSD symptom of hypervigilance, where those afflicted are on high alert for threats and are more distracted by not only threatening situations that remind them of the trauma, but also by benign situations,” said Dr Rajendra Morey, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University.

“This has not been seen at the brain level before. If further research confirms this preliminary finding, this pattern could be useful in distinguishing the PTSD brain.”

But experts in the UK said it was hard at this stage to see much practical use there was in being able to identify PTSD on a brain scanner.

“It is not actually hard to diagnose PTSD – all you need is a decent mental health professional,” said Professor Simon Wessely, director of the King’s Centre for Military Health Research.

“The real challenge is to persuade people to come forward for help.

“Neuroscience is clearly going to help us understand the neural substrates underlying symptoms, but as long as soldiers continue to believe that admitting to psychological distress is not what a soldier should do, most will never get near an MRI scanner.”

Neil Greenberg, a senior lecturer in military psychiatry, said he could not see any therapeutic benefit in using a scanner to diagnose.

But he said: “There’s a possible use from a medico-legal perspective, if someone wants to prove definitively that this is a condition they have.

“And it’s also feasible that it could be used against those who are avoiding military duties because they say they have PTSD.”

As a hypnotherapist I know that PTSD can be treated with the help of hypnosis in various ways and makes me recall a lady call Ann, who was was a nurse in an Accident and Emergency Department ( ER in USA) and was involved in helping deal with a major rail disaster. Some of the sights and injuries she was exposed to led her to have graphic flashbacks, reliving some of the events of the day. This resulted in her becoming withdrawn and suffering from nightmares. Ann was asked to use regression whilst in hypnosis to let go of the the emotions attached to the events  and also ego strengthening was applied to help re-build her confidence and self-esteem. Eventually the nightmares began to recede and the feelings of loneliness and isolation waned as Ann started to move forward with her life.

For me, reading this recent report helps me feel greater comfort for those who have suffered for year with PTSD and have found it difficult to prove scientifically that something physically was different going on in these people minds.  Furthermore, I feel happy that there is a way for people with the condition of PTSD to achieve closure and retake control of their lives with the power of hypnosis!

Wake Up Happy!!!

David Power

Medical Hypnosis Expert and Practical Parenting Expert

David Power’s Hour

Comments