Conflict resolution
The US military is leading the hunt for additional biological markers of resilience. Since 2008 — driven in part by soaring suicide rates among soldiers — the US Army has collaborated with the National Institute of Mental Health and several academic institutions on a US$65-million project called Army STARRS (the Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers). The project has many parts, including a retrospective look at de-identified medical and administrative records for 1.6 million soldiers, in search of early warnings of suicide, PTSD and other mental-health problems. STARRS scientists are also collecting data — such as blood samples, medical histories and cognitive testing results — on tens of thousands of current soldiers. The researchers expect to publish their first findings early next year.
The military also funds research into animal models of resilience. Most rodents will quickly learn to associate painful foot shocks with a certain cue, such as a tone or a specific cage. After they have learned the association, the rodents freeze on experiencing the cue, even without the shock. Several years ago, Abraham Palmer, a geneticist now at the University of Chicago in Illinois, made a line of resilient mice by selectively breeding mice that froze for abnormally short periods of time. After about four generations, he had mice that froze for about half the time of typical animals. The effect was not due to a difference in pain sensitivity or general learning ability. This month, Luke Johnson, a neuroscientist at the Uniformed Services University, will present data at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, showing that these mice have uncommonly low activity in the amygdala and hippocampus, consistent with human studies of PTSD resilience. They also have low levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone, in their urine.
“They have a quieter system, even at rest,” says Johnson. “It suggests that there are underlying biological traits that are associated with the capacity of the animal for fear memory.” In future experiments, Johnson plans to use the mice to study NPY and potential new therapies.
Ebaugh, who now specializes in therapy for trauma victims, agrees that drug-based treatments could aid in recovery. But some people may find relief elsewhere. Religious practices — especially those that emphasize altruism, community and having a purpose in life — have been found to help trauma victims to overcome PTSD. Ebaugh says that yoga, meditation, natural remedies and acupuncture worked for her.
Today, she buys groceries at the plaza where she was abducted, and she drives over the bridge she was thrown from as though it were any other road. She says that she has forgiven the man who abducted her. When she reflects on what he did, it's not with anger, sadness or fear. “It doesn't feel like it affects my life at all at this point, at least not in a negative way,” she says. “In a positive way, it's been a huge teacher.”
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on October 11, 2012.
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3 Comments
Add CommentI was interested in the comment about meditation. Perhaps someone who knows could comment about whether meditation can produce measurable biological effects that correlate with increased resilience, as well as about whether there are strategies that would allow people with PTSD to successfullly meditate. Are there barriers to meditation inherent in having either PTSD or even severe depression? This is an extremely interesting area of research. And it is a far cry from earlier attitudes and beliefs among the general public that tended to stigmatize people with such responses.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat significance might this have for ameliorating paranoia?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile in a hospital for shingles, I received a MRI which initiated a grand mal seizure in my brain. That evening I was given escitlopram by the hospital system instead of the prescribed citlopram by my psychiatrist. I have been having psychosis/mania since a study drug 3 years ago for seizures and had some control over the psychosis.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe administration of the wrong chemical in my brain resulted in complete memory loss of 24 hours and pure psychosis.
Security was called and instead of them putting masks, gloves and suit on, stormed into the quaranteened room and yelled at a psychotic woman to calm down or she was going to get a shot.
The only way the situation was calmed was by me, the psychotic woman, looking at the floor, taking some deep breaths, counting, concentrating on my body and relaxation and beginning to meditate.
The room calmed, the security left and I was left alone in the room. Still psychotic in my mind, no longer being threatened with "a shot to calm you down".