Another Look at the Legal and Ethical Consequences of Pharmacological Memory Dampening: The Case of Sexual Assault

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 859-871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Chandler ◽  
Alexandra Mogyoros ◽  
Tristana Martin Rubio ◽  
Eric Racine
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
The United States ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Persistent Symptoms ◽  
Intense Fear ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Uncommon Condition ◽  
Clinically Significant

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a “young” disorder formally recognized in the early 1980s, although the symptoms have been noted for centuries particularly in relation to military conflicts. PTSD may develop after a serious traumatic experience that induces feelings of intense fear, helplessness or horror. It is currently characterized by three key classes of symptoms which must cause clinically significant distress or impairment of functioning: (1) persistent and distressing re-experiencing of the trauma; (2) persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness; and (3) persistent symptoms of hyper-arousal. One of the possible symptoms within the second class is difficulty in remembering an important aspect of the traumatic event.PTSD is not an uncommon condition, with an estimated lifetime prevalence of about 7-9% based on studies conducted in the United States and Canada, with women at higher risk than men. While not everyone who experiences a significant trauma will go on to develop PTSD, about a third will do so. Sexual assault, along with other forms of assaultive violence, pose a comparatively high risk of PTSD.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the effects of L-Theanine on neurobehavior in an adult male Sprague-Dawley Rat Model of PTSD

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-308
Author(s):  
John E Buonora ◽  
Patrick M Krum ◽  
Tomás Eduardo Ceremuga
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Forced Swim Test ◽  
The United States ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Stress Model ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Shock Stress

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continues to be one of the most common mental health disorders in the United States and may occur in response to traumatic experiences. Currently, there are no interventions that prevent the development of PTSD. L-Theanine (L-Th), a major compound in green tea has been found to decrease anxiety and prevent memory impairment and may have potential effects in the prevention of PTSD. Sixty rats were divided into six experimental groups: control vehicle, control L-Th, control naïve, PTSD vehicle, PTSD Pre-L-Th (prophylactic), PTSD Post-L-Th (non-prophylactic). PTSD was induced by a 3-day restraint/tail shock stress model. The effects of L-Th on neurobehavior were evaluated by Elevated Plus-Maze (EPM), Morris Water Maze (MWM), and Forced Swim Test (FST). Our study found that the total food intake weight of PTSD Pre-L-Th (prophylactic) rats were significantly increased compared to that of PTSD vehicle rats (p = .04). Administration of L-Th 24 hours before the initial PTSD event or for 10 days following the last PTSD stress event did not statistically improve mean open arm exploration on the EPM, spatial memory, and learning in the MWM or behavioral despair measured by the FST (p > 0.05). Although the 3-day restraint/tail shock stress model caused stress in the rodents, it did not produce reported PTSD-like anxiety and depression or spatial memory loss. The effect of Pre-L-Th or Post-L-Th treatment, on the neurobehavioral functions could not be effectively evaluated. However, this study provides a foundation for future studies to try different rodent PTSD models to induce PTSD-like neurobehavioral impairments to explore dosage, frequency, as well as the duration of L-Th administration before and/or after the post-traumatic event. The 3-day restraint/tail shock stress model caused stress in the rodents, Pre-L-Theanine treatment preconditioned the PTSD rats to endure stress.

Cellular Physiology of the Basolateral Complex of the Amygdala and Its Modulation by Stress

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan M. O’Flaherty ◽  
Chia-Chun Hsu ◽  
M. Anzar Abbas ◽  
Donald G. Rainnie
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Fear Response ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Bed Nucleus ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Basolateral Complex

Fear is a critical emotional response that allows an organism to safely navigate through dangerous environments. The neural systems underlying the fear response have been well characterized, and include the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, nucleus accumbens, and others. While normally these brain regions coordinate to produce an appropriate fear response, the fear network in humans can become dysregulated after a traumatic event. The resulting phenotype of hyperarousal, avoidance, and re-experiencing of fear known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a growing problem in the United States. This chapter focuses on the role of the basolateral complex (BLC) of the amygdala, which has been implicated in the neuropathology of PTSD, particularly the hyperarousal, fear generalization, and fear extinction deficits characteristic of the disorder, as well as aspects of the microcircuitry, network connectivity, and neuromodulation of the BLC that may be involved in the pathophysiology of PTSD.

scholarly journals Emotional Face Expressions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Houlihan ◽  
Ian Fraser ◽  
Meaghan Donahue ◽  
Monica Sharma ◽  
Wendy Bourque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Clinical Tool ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Post Traumatic

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs following a severely traumatic event and is characterized by: re-experiencing, avoidance, emotional blunting and reactivity. Of particular interest to this study are emotional blunting, which is the reduced responsiveness to cues unrelated to the traumatic experience, and reactivity which is an increased sensitivity to eventrelated cues. In two studies, the N170 was recorded in response to emotional faces (happy, sad, angry, surprised, neutral) and objects. In each study, high and low scorers on the PTSD checklist formed two companion groups. Angry faces are considered a generalized threat and it was expected that the clinical group would show larger N170 (hyper-reactive) to these emotional expressions, while responses to the other emotions would be reduced (emotional blunting). Preliminary analysis suggests that both of these processes are present. Results will be discussed in terms of possible deficits in processing emotional information in PTSD as well as the development of a clinical tool to aid the diagnosis of PTSD.

scholarly journals Play Therapy Untuk anak-anak Korban Bencana Alam Yang Mengalami Trauma (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/PTSD)

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-178
Author(s):  
Endah Nawangsih
Keyword(s):  
Play Therapy ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
The World ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Impact

Anywhere in the world, natural disasters events cause loss of life, moreover a deep sorrow and fear for the victims. They were in a state of very uneasy, very scared, never-ending anxiety, and become prone to panic. These conditions called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a continuous maladaptive reaction to a traumatic experience. In contrast to adults, children are in a state highly vulnerable to the impact caused by a traumatic event. Children with PTSD may show confusion or agitation. This condition brings suffering prolonged, if not given proper treatment. It required a specific intervention design for children with PTSD namely Play Therapy techniques. This intervention is one way that can be used to understand the world of children through playing, so that when used in the right circumstances can be meaningful as physical activity as well as therapy.

Recovered memories and false memories

2012 ◽  
pp. 713-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris R. Brewin
Keyword(s):  
False Memory ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Memory Loss ◽  
The United States ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
False Memory Syndrome ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Post Traumatic

Clinicians working with survivors of traumatic experiences have frequently noted the existence of memory loss with no obvious physical cause and the recovery of additional memories during clinical sessions. Indeed, amnesia is described in diagnostic manuals as a feature of post-traumatic stress disorder, although its presence is not necessary for this diagnosis. In the majority of these cases, people forget details of the traumatic event or events, or forget how they reacted at the time, although they remember that the event happened. They typically report that they have endeavoured not to think about the event, but have never forgotten that it occurred. Controversy is centred on memories of traumatic events, particularly concerning child abuse, that appear to be recovered after a long period of time in which there was complete forgetting that they had ever happened. It has sometimes been suggested that many, if not all, of these apparent recovered memories are the product of inappropriate therapeutic suggestion. This argument has been promulgated in particular by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in the United States, by its counterpart, the British False Memory Society, and by their scientific advisors.

scholarly journals RE-EXPERIENCING AS A SYMPTOM OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 208-221
Author(s):  
Spartak Subbota ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Traumatic Memories ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Extraction Pattern ◽  
Psychological Mechanism ◽  
Post Traumatic

The article shows that intrusive reexperiencing is one of key symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that can be manifestedin various forms, for example, intrusive ideas and images, nightmares, flashbacks, stress, physiological reactions and so on. Researchers mostly agree that symptom of re-experiencing is related to methods of coding traumatic memories, storing them in one’s memory and extraction. Pattern of selective identification of elements related to the traumatic event and strong emotional reaction on these triggers looks like a normal adaptive reaction soon after the trauma, as a person needs to re-estimate safety of his/her own environment. Many people recover relatively quickly, working with the trauma alone or with the help of a psychotherapist, in particular through the processes of establishment of autobiographic memories about the event of the trauma as well as its proximal context, both temporal and situational. These people further notice that triggers work as signals of false alarm, and that actually they do not signal about any immediate danger. However for some patients reexperiencing can still remain: if a person can’t place traumatic memories within corresponding context of time and place (for example, when working with memories alone or at least without professional help) with periodical memory updates using trauma-related information, then intrusive re-experiencing works as a trigger reaction remains quite working psychological mechanism. It is proven that it is important to take into account features of both conscious and involuntary memories when describingpost-traumatic memories among PTSD patients. It is shown that key elements of traumatic experience are memorized best of all, and details are remembered worse and less detailed. Although such tendency is consistentwith posttraumatic narratives from patients with PTSD, it however lacks to explain maintenance of symptom of repeated experiencing; warning signals hypothesis, in our opinion, shows the best explanatory potential in this case. Moreover, problems with the conscious remembering of the traumatic experiencing also promote attention to problems with adequate estimations of trauma in general, and consequently are important for professional understanding of abnormal psychology of PTSD.

Association Between Intimate Partner Violence Subtypes and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Hazardous Substance Use

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110219
Author(s):  
Matthew M. Yalch ◽  
Sloane R. M. Rickman
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cumulative Effects ◽  
Hazardous Substance ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common problem for women in the United States and is associated with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as hazardous use of substances like alcohol and drugs. However, not all subtypes of IPV (i.e., physical, sexual, and psychological) are equally predictive of PTSD and hazardous substance use. Although previous research suggests that psychological IPV has the strongest relative effect on PTSD symptoms and substance use, there is less research on IPV subtypes’ cumulative effects. In this study, we examined the relative and cumulative effects of physical, sexual, and psychological IPV on PTSD symptoms and hazardous substance use in a sample of women in the United States recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk ( N = 793) using bootstrapped multiple regression and configural frequency analyses. Results suggest that physical IPV had the most pronounced influence (medium-large effect sizes) on substance use across women, but that the cumulative effects of all three IPV subtypes were most closely associated with diagnostic levels of both PTSD and substance use at the level of groups of women. These findings clarify and extend previous research on the differential effects of IPV subtypes and provide directions for future research and clinical intervention.

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