Tag Archives: PTSD

The Psychological Impact of Having An Accident At Work

eye injury compensation

Workplace accidents may or may not have long-term physical effects. But while bruises and cuts generally get all the attention, the psychological impact of an accident is often overlooked. For example, an employee who sustains an eye injury at work may seek compensation from his company. However, the eye injury compensation he receives may not account for the psychological challenges he may experience long after his physical injuries heal. Although his vision may be intact, his confidence, social life, and relationships may be affected.

Accidents at work may also contribute to the development of certain mental health issues. Consider these three mental health conditions below: Continue reading

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Police Officers and Stress Related Health Problems

police and stress related health problemsThere is no doubt that policing is an extremely dangerous job. Policemen are regularly involved in perilous situations that might result in the deaths of the persons they are trying to serve, the deaths of the persons they are trying to stop or even the loss of their own lives. However recent research is now highlighting the fact that the inherent dangers associated with the job do not solely lurk out in the streets.

John Violanti, Ph.D., a research associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions, is leading an experiment to study the correlation between the stress of being a police officer and the occupation’s psychological and health related outcomes. The assumption that the exposure to death, the exposure to human suffering and the high demands experienced by police officers in the line of duty contribute to increased risks of cardiovascular diseases and other chronic ailments prompted the initiation of the five year experiment known as the buffalo cardio- metabolic occupational police stress (BCOPS) study. Dr. Violanti insists that this is the first police population based research to test such an association. Continue reading

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Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Psychodynamic and Cognitive-Behavioural Therapies

posttraumatic stress disorder treatmentA variety of therapeutic interventions have been applied in the treatment of PTSD, including psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, family therapy and group therapy. Regardless of the orientation used, two factors appear to be critical for the success of psychotherapy with PTSD clients: 1) therapy should start soon after the traumatic experience, and 2) therapy should be brief and focused (Schawz & Prout, 1991). Continue reading

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Psychodynamic Explanations

child with post-traumatic stress disorderThe link between trauma and mental illness has been known for many decades. As early as 1896, Freud hypothesized that sexual trauma resulted in hysterical illness (Chu, 1991). He later adjusted his theory to suggest that intra-psychic conflict and not the external trauma causes many illness and several aspects of this later theory have been applied to the understanding of PTSD and its main presenting symptoms. Continue reading

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What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

soldierPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder which develops following exposure to a terrifying event involving death, injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of onself or of another person. The symptoms characteristic of PTSD can develop out of personal experience with traumatic events or from witnessing or hearing about such events being experienced by others. Distressing events leading to this disorder include wars, natural disasters, imprisonment, violent personal assaults, serious automobile accidents, and being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Continue reading

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