Invisible Wounds: Psychological and Neurological Injuries Confront a New Generation of Veterans

As early as 1919, doctors began to track a psychological condition among combat veterans of World War I known as "shell shock." Veterans were suffering from symptoms such as fatigue and anxiety, but science could offer little in the way of effective treatment. Although there remains much more to learn, our understanding of war's invisible wounds has dramatically improved. Thanks to modern screening and treatment, we have an unprecedented opportunity to respond immediately and effectively to the veterans' mental health crisis. Among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, rates of psychological and neurological injuries are high and rising. According to a landmark 2008 RAND study, nearly 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans screen positive for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or depression. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are also facing neurological damage,. Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, has become the signature wound of the Iraq War. The Department of Defense is tracking about 5,500 troops with TBIs, but many veterans are not being diagnosed. No one comes home from war unchanged, but with early screening and adequate access to counseling, the psychological and neurological effects of combat are treatable. In the military and in the veterans' community, however, those suffering from the invisible wounds of war are still falling through the cracks. We must take action now to protect this generation of combat veterans from the struggles faced by those returning from the Vietnam War

Community Connections: Summer 1992 v. 1, no. 2

Monthly newsletter with information of interest to the Boston University Medical Center and residents of the South End

Spartan Daily, April 7, 1981

Volume 76, Issue 50https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/6754/thumbnail.jp

The Other \u27VD\u27: The Educational Campaign to Reduce Venereal Disease Rate During World War II

Venereal disease was a major contributor to lost man days in World War I so the government attempted to implement an educational campaign beginning in 1918. After a loss of funding, venereal disease became unattended until 1936 when Thomas Parran was appointed as Surgeon General. He made prevention of venereal disease his top priority and began a new campaign, determined to make it more effective and better funding than its predecessor. The subsequent advent of World War II strengthened national interest. With the inspiration of Parran, the Public Health Service and other organizations made movies, posters, pamphlets, books, and school curriculums. Despite these efforts beginning before the war and only intensifying during the war years, venereal disease rates during World War II climbed through 1943. However, in contrast to the first campaign, Parran’s attempt to end venereal diseases was better funded and longer lasting than its predecessor

Public health in Calcutta

'Wellcome History' is an easy and regular channel of communication between all Wellcome historians. It aims to be an informal, user-friendly centre of debate

Mexican-Born Immigrant Decision-Making About Self-Management of Type 2 Diabetes

Purpose: This study explored how English-speaking Mexican-born immigrants with diabetes 2 (T2D) made decisions about diabetes self-management (DSM). Background: Little is known about the self-care decisions of Mexican-born adults living in America with T2D. This information is needed so that health care professionals (HCPs) might better support patients’ DSM. T2D is a serious, multi-system disease, effecting persons of Mexican heritage almost twice as often as non-Hispanic whites (NHW); with lower insulin sensitivity, rapid prediabetes/T2D onset, and severe outcomes. Ineffectively managed blood glucose (BG) risks serious complications, reduced life quality, and premature death. T2D is primarily self-managed; requiring BG control. HCPs teaching Mexican émigrés encounter culturally-steeped beliefs that affect decision-making, contradict the science model and are not understood by NHW-HCPs. Methodology/Results: A purposive sample of 12 (10 women/2 men) were recruited in Los Angeles County. Each participated in a 1.5 – 4-hour semi-structured interview conducted mostly in English. A bilingual research assistant/participant-observer clarified questions/interpreted Spanish explanations. Participants were queried about what influenced DSM decisions, self-care and cultural aspects. Constructivist grounded theory informed data analysis through constant comparison; results were confirmed by co-analysis. Findings indicated that cultural requisites of being proper by practicing expected role/behavioral norms, eating hostess-prepared food, and hiding the socially-stigmatized diagnosis took precedence over positive DSM (+DSM). Food’s smell/taste, had emotive meaning. Presence at frequent socially-required events and desire to “enjoy today” were powerful decisioning forces that interfered with mastering DSM. To meet social requisites and enjoy flavors gave short-term pleasure but raised BG. The progressive nature of T2D was feared; none understood the progressive loss of insulin production. Motivation of love of family/fear of dreaded outcomes significantly impacted decisions. Accepting the T2D diagnosis/responsibility for/outcomes of DSM were key to being in the battle daily toward +DSM. All were Negotiating between short-term pleasure and illusive, long-term BG effects. Implications: HCPs may help patients understand cultural influences that interfere with/promote +DSM, helping identify ways to negotiate short-term cultural requisites/avoid long-term outcomes may result in safer DSM decision-making. The substantive theory: Negotiating every-day diabetes self-management decisions about conflicts between culture, personal enjoyment, and long-term outcomes toward mastery of type 2 diabetes by Mexican-born adults

Spartan Daily, December 4, 2003

Volume 121, Issue 65https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/9931/thumbnail.jp

Narratives of art-making in chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis: Three case studies

This paper explores the narratives of three women who had lived with severe chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) for many years, and who engaged in art-making as a leisure activity rather than for psychotherapy. Three distinct narratives about the role of art-making in CFS/ME were inferred. One participant represented art as a way of filling time rather than having further psychological significance. In her narrative, art provided satisfaction but also functioned as a witness to time and opportunity that had been lost to an unchanging illness. The second participant narrated both illness and art-making as intertwined journeys towards a more able and useful self. Her narrative had features of the quest described in previous typologies. The third participant also provided a quest narrative, but her struggle focused inwards on understanding her feelings about her illness and its effects on her life. The analytic focus on narrative revealed the distinctive constructions of illness and art-making that are usually submerged when qualitative analysis focuses on themes common to groups of participants. These narratives of art-making in CFS/ME have relevance to understanding the multi-faceted therapeutic benefits of art

Nottingham's Owd 'Oss Mummers and their scrapbooks

Nottingham's Owd 'Oss Mummers were formed in the late 1960s as an offshoot of the Nottingham Traditional Music Club, and continued into the 1980s. They have not totally disappeared, although they are now in new guises. The author joined them shortly after their formation, and after going to college performed with them in the late 1970s. For nearly all the time they existed, the Owd 'Oss Mummers maintained scrap books in which they lodged tour reports, photographs, press cuttings and other ephemera. The scrapbooks are now showing the ravages of time, with items becoming unstuck, bindings disintegrating, and so forth. This talk will outline the history of the group, illustrated with excerpts from the scrapbooks and personal reminiscences. It will also explore some of the issues regarding the long term conservation and preservation of such scrapbooks