If, as a health care or social service provider, one was called upon to help someone who has experienced terror in the hands of a hostage taker, an irate and chronically abusive spouse or parent, or a has survived a motor vehicle accident, landslide, earthquake, hurricane or even a massive flood, what would be one's priority response? What would be considered as the most pressing need of the individual requiring care? Whatever the answer to each of these questions, people who have experienced terror, suffer considerable psychological injury. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in a Global Context offers some answers to meet the needs of health care and socials service providers in all settings, whether in a hospital emergency room, at the war front, or natural disaster site. The take home message is, after providing emergency care, there is always a pressing need to provide mental health care to all victims of traumatic stress.

Culture and PTSD examines the applicability of PTSD to cultural contexts beyond Europe and North America and details local responses to trauma and how they vary from PTSD as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.

The first systematic analysis of the rates, risk factors, consequences and global burden of trauma and PTSD across the globe.

This volume brings together the leaders in the field of PTSD research to present an up-to-date summary and understanding of this complex disorder. All of our current knowledge and controversies concerning the diagnosis, epidemiology, course, pathophysiology and treatment are described in detail. The evidence for efficacy for each of the different forms of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy is reviewed. Particular attention is paid to at-risk groups, including minorities, and coverage of PTSD throughout the world is reviewed as well. The authors present state-of-the-art findings in genetics, epigenetics, neurotransmitter function and brain imaging to provide the most current and comprehensive review of this burgeoning field.

The Handbook of Psychiatric Measures offers a concise summary of key evaluations that you can easily incorporate into your daily practice. The measures will enhance the quality of patient care assisting you, both in diagnosis and assessment of outcomes. Comprising a wide range of methods available for assessing persons with mental health problems, the Handbook contains more than 275 rating methods, from the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale to the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. In this fully revised edition, more than 40 measures have been added both to the book and to the accompanying CD-ROM. The Handbook features: Thoroughly examined and revised measures that provide the most relevant and timely information for clinicians. New measures that empirically provide better patient evaluation Updated costs, translations, and contact information for each measure This handy compendium includes both diagnostic tools and measures of symptoms, function and quality of life, medication side effects, and other clinically relevant parameters. It focuses on measures that can be most readily used in either clinical practice or research. Most of the measures are designed to improve the reliability and validity of patient assessment over what might be accomplished in a standard clinical interview. The measures also demonstrate that the use of formal measures can improve the collection, synthesis, and reporting of information as compared with the use of unstructured examinations. Seventeen disorder-specific chapters, organized in DSM-IV-TR order, include measures for: Disorders of childhood and adolescence Cognitive disorders Sexual dysfunction Eating disorders Sleep disorders Aggression and much more. The discussion of each measure includes goals, description, practical issues, psychometric properties, and clinical utility, followed by references and suggested readings. This revised edition includes updated measure descriptions, new measure variants and research, and newly selected measures particularly appropriate to the domain of discussion. As a clinical tool, this book Describes how, when, and to what purpose measures are used Points out practical issues to consider in choosing a measure for clinical use Addresses limitations in the use of measures including ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic factors that influence their interpretation Use of this special resource is further enhanced by a CD-ROM containing the full text of more than 150 of these measures -- an invaluable aid for reference and clinical decision-making.

Current research and clinical observations suggest pronounced gender-based differences in the ways people respond to traumatic events. Most notably, women evidence twice the rate of PTSD as men following traumatic exposure. This important volume brings together leading clinical scientists to analyze the current state of knowledge on gender and PTSD. Cogent findings are presented on gender-based differences and influences in such areas as trauma exposure, risk factors, cognitive and physiological processes, comorbidity, and treatment response. Going beyond simply cataloging gender-related data, the book explores how the research can guide us in developing more effective clinical services for both women and men. Incorporating cognitive, biological, physiological, and sociocultural perspectives, this is an essential sourcebook and text.

This volume provides mental health professionals and healthcare policy planners with an unprecedented reference on the cross-national descriptive epidemiology of mental disorders.

This open access book provides an enriched understanding of historical, collective, cultural, and identity-related trauma, emphasising the social and political location of human subjects. It therefore presents a socio-ecological perspective on trauma, rather than viewing displaced individuals as traumatised “passive victims”. The vastness of the phenomenon of trauma among displaced populations has led it to become a critical and timely area of inquiry, and this book is an important addition to the literature. It gives an overview of theoretical frameworks related to trauma and migration—exploring factors of risk and resilience, prevalence rates of PTSD, and conceptualisations of trauma beyond psychiatric diagnoses; conceptualises experiences of trauma from a sociocultural perspective (including collective trauma, collective aspirations, and collective resilience); and provides applications for professionals working with displaced populations in complex institutional, legal, and humanitarian settings. It includes case studies based on the author’s own 10-year experience working in emergency contexts with displaced populations in 11 countries across the world. This book presents unique data collected by the author herself, including interviews with survivors of ISIS attacks, with an asylum seeker in Switzerland who set himself alight in protest against asylum procedures, and women from the Murle tribe affected by the conflict in South Sudan who experienced an episode of mass fainting spells. This is an important resource for academics and professionals working in the field of trauma studies and with traumatised groups and individuals.

This work is a vital set of insights and guidelines that will contribute to more aware and meaningful practice for mental health professionals. Focusing equally on theoretical concepts, culturally valid assessment methods, and cultural adaptation in trauma and resilience, an array of experts present the cutting edge of research and strategies. Extended case studies illustrate an informative range of symptom profiles, comorbid conditions, and coping skills, as well as secondary traumas that can occur in asylum seekers.