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PTSD and Relationships
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Trauma and PTSD can lead to problems that affect interactions with others, including close family. Those suffering with PTSD have a hard time feeling emotions. They may feel detached from others.
In turn, the way a loved one responds to him or her affects the trauma survivor. A circular pattern can develop that may harm relationships.
Read more about Relationships and PTSD to find out how loved ones on both sides react following trauma. Also see:
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Family and Friends section: Information about the effects of trauma on families, children, relationships, and communities.
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Partners of Veterans with PTSD: Discusses common problems experienced in relationships in which one or both of the partners has PTSD. Also discusses treatment options.
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When a Child’s Parent has PTSD: Explains the common problems that children can experience. Provides recommendations for how to cope with these difficulties.
PTSD affects families and others as well as the person who experienced trauma. Families may need some help too. Help for Family and Friends covers resources to help you take care of yourself while supporting someone with PTSD. (also in Spanish: Asistencia para Familiares y Amigos)
NEW Online
Help Raise PTSD Awareness.
June is PTSD Awareness Month. Learn what you can do to take the step and help this effort.
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For Providers
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Research that has examined the effect of PTSD on intimate relationships reveals severe and pervasive negative effects on marital adjustment, family functioning, and the mental health of partners.
As a care provider who works with traumatized clients, you may want to know more about Working with Families. This section covers research findings on partners and children of those with PTSD, including Veterans with PTSD.
Also find the PTSD 101 online course: Couples and PTSD, which includes rationale and methods for including loved ones in PTSD treatment.
New Diagnostic Criteria for PTSD to be Released: DSM-5. Read this preview of the changes or watch the lecture below.
From the War Zone to the Home Front II - Online Training
Join us for this special session about the soon to be released PTSD diagnostic criteria.
PTSD Diagnosis and DSM-5 by Matthew J. Friedman, MD, PhD
- Thursday May 30 at 11:30 ET. Includes Q&A and free CE/CMEs. You can also view archives of over 20 additional presentations.
- Learn more and register today!
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VA Monthly Lecture Series
PTSD Psychopharmacology Best Practices
3rd Wednesday of each month, 2 pm ET. VA staff please email us to sign up.
- 05/15 - Ahsan Naseem on Using Telemedicine to Assess, Diagnose, and Prescribe for Veterans with PTSD
- 06/19 – Tasha Souter on Strategies to Decrease Benzodiazepine Use in PTSD
VA PTSD Consultation Program
Free PTSD consultation for anyone working with Veterans. Call 866-948-7880 or email: ptsdconsult@va.gov
05/21 - Jennifer Vasterling and Steven Thorp on PTSD and Dementia.
06/18 - Jennifer Burden on VA Residential Treatment for PTSD.
3rd Tuesday of the month, 2 pm EST. Based on questions posed to the VA PTSD Consultation Program. VA staff please email ptsdconsult@va.gov to sign up.
Please forward to other VA Staff so they can sign up for this update and other PTSD notices specific to VA.
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Research at the Center
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Center researchers are examining how pre-deployment characteristics, social support, and the course of PTSD influence family adaptation following deployment to Iraq. The study will increase understanding of risk and protective factors related to family mental health outcomes and functioning, and inform future prevention and treatment approaches for military/Veteran families.
National VA Research Week
We are learning more and more about the causes of PTSD and other reactions to trauma. The week of May 13-17 is National VA Research Week. Here are some PTSD highlights:
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PTSD Research: Research helps improve lives by tackling problems like PTSD. We are trying to develop new and better ways to treat and prevent PTSD.
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Research on PTSD: For professionals, this section features information and tools to support trauma researchers. Subscribe to our two research publications the Clinician's Trauma Update Online and the PTSD Research Quarterly.
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PTSD in the News
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PTSD on NBC's Law & Order: SVU. Huffington Post (blog) discusses this recent episode that accurately portrays the experiences faced by a combat Veteran with PTSD. Read more.*
An exchange about RDoC. A discussion on DSM-5 versus the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project which incorporates genetics, imaging, and cognitive science to lay the foundation for a new classification system.
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NIMH: Transforming Diagnosis. Read more.*
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David Kupfer, M.D., Responds to Criticism of DSM-5 by NIMH Director. (PDF)*
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Scientific American (blog). No One Is Abandoning the DSM, but It Is Almost Time to Transform It. Read more.*
First Responders Seek Out Counseling as Attitudes Shift. This Wall Street Journal article provides an update following the Boston Marathon bombings with comments by the Center’s Dr. Terry Keane, Director, Behavioral Science Division. Read more.*
Please encourage your colleagues and others to subscribe to the PTSD Monthly Update!
Feature topic next month- June is PTSD Awareness Month. Take the Step. Raise PTSD Awareness.
Sincerely, The Staff of the National Center for PTSD
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