time.com Alexandra Sifferlin A new review suggests cannabis may help mental health disorders Legal access to marijuana, medicinal or otherwise, is growing. In 2016, four states approved recreational use of the drug and four states passed laws related to medical-cannabis access, bringing the total number of states that allow some form of legal marijuana use READ MORE
http://www.scientificamerican.com/ Although scientists have learned a lot about the brain in the last few decades, approaches to treating mental illnesses have not kept up. As neuroscientists learn more about brain circuits, Stanford psychiatrist Amit Etkin foresees a time when diagnoses will be based on brain scans rather than symptoms. Etkin, who will be speaking at READ MORE
http://news.yale.edu/ At least one in five U.S. military veterans who have experienced trauma are at greatly elevated risk for depression, suicide, or substance abuse even though they do not meet all criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new Yale-led study. The study of 1,484 U.S. veterans, published June 1 in the journal READ MORE
http://www.simcoe.com/ By Janis Ramsay Today is an important day for paramedic Natalie Harris. The Barrie resident lives with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is celebrating the province’s passing of the Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act, which allows faster access to benefits and treatment through Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). “The first responder family is READ MORE
http://www.cbc.ca/ Adam Cyr was injured in Afghanistan Adam Cyr was on his final infantry patrol in Afghanistan when his unit sustained enemy artillery fire. “We were going home the next day,” the two-sport athlete recalled. “We got knocked around pretty good,” said Cyr, who is ready to compete for Canada in archery and rowing at the 2016 READ MORE
http://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/ ATLANTA, Georgia – Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is unique among stress-related psychiatric illness in that exposure to a traumatic event is a required component of the diagnosis. Symptoms of PTSD include negative alterations in cognition and mood, hyperarousal, avoidance behavior, and re-experiencing of trauma. Furthermore, a significant minority of individuals who are exposed to READ MORE
http://blogs.webmd.com/ By Julie Edgar WebMD Health News Depression should be talked about with the same candor as say, diabetes. But we have quite a ways to go in recognizing what it looks like – and stripping away the shame attached to mental health conditions, says Rory Brosius. Brosius is deputy director of Joining Forces, an READ MORE
http://ottawacitizen.com/ Marie-Julie Cosenzo is daunted by the thought of crossing the bridge into Gatineau. “Just going to Hull even is very difficult for me. It just brings back too much pain,” Cosenzo said. Cosenzo, who lives in Ottawa and has been a paramedic with the Coopérative des Paramédics de l’Outaouais for almost nine years, hasn’t been READ MORE
by Jami DeLoe Applying the 12 steps to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recovery is just one way that I have found to strengthen my recovery and improve my life. Because the steps that are commonly used for addiction recovery are all about learning to live life a new way, they can successfully be applied to READ MORE
employmentlawtoday.com Province focuses on prevention, reducing stigma Ontario is putting in place a number of new initiatives to help prevent or mitigate the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among first responders. Evidence shows that first responders such as police personnel, firefighters and paramedics are at least twice as likely as the general population to READ MORE
