In a study appearing in the May edition of Research on Social Work Practice, Geisinger Senior Investigator Joseph Boscarino, PhD, MPH and his co-researchers examined psychological stress, job burnout and secondary trauma among 236 New York City social workers following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Secondary trauma includes experiencing symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress such as having nightmares or flashbacks, being easily startled and avoiding situations that remind one of the original trauma. Sometimes called vicarious trauma, it can seriously impact the mental health of counselors, first responders, critical care nurses and others in healthcare professions involved with treating those exposed to traumatic events, Boscarino said.

The study found that involvement in World Trade Center recovery effort was the primary reason why social workers experienced secondary trauma.

The research also showed that a positive work environment for social workers helped reduce secondary trauma and prevent job burnout. Read the rest of this entry »

The eye is telling the brain when to become plastic, rather than the brain developing on its own clock.

Researchers have long sought a factor that can trigger the brain’s ability to learn – and perhaps recapture the “sponge-like” quality of childhood. In the August 8 issue of the journal Cell, neuroscientists at Children’s Hospital Boston report that they’ve identified such a factor, a protein called Otx 2. Otx2 helps a key type of cell in the cortex to mature, initiating a critical period–a window of heightened brain plasticity, when the brain can readily make new connections.

And where does this protein come from? Interestingly enough, it is developed in the cornea. Basically, when the eye opens and is functional, it tells the brain to start receiving data and learning.

“The eye is telling the brain when to become plastic, rather than the brain developing on its own clock,” says Hensch, who is also a professor at Harvard Medical School and at Harvard University’s Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology. In essence, the eye is telling the brain, “The eyes are ready and seeing properly — you can rewire now.”

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Dreaming and daydreaming, ruminating, or hearing traumatic keywords associated with a trauma can turn on enough noradrenaline to unlock the cabinet.

As I’ve discussed before in this blog, memories, particularly traumatic memories can be very inaccurate recordings of events. I think I’ve come across a good explanation for why that is so – and what can be done about it.

Neuroscientists at The University of Queensland explain how emotional events can sometimes lead to disturbing long term memories. During studies of the almond-shaped part of the brain called the amygdala – a region associated with processing emotions – Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) scientists uncovered a cellular mechanism underlying the formation of emotional memories – and it involves a well known stress hormone – noradrenaline, the brain’s version of adrenaline. Noradrenaline affects the amygdala by controlling chemical and electrical pathways in the brain responsible for memory formation.

Think of this interaction between chemical and brain structure like a file cabinet.

When an emotional event occurs noradrenaline is released in the brain – the more emotionally traumatic the event, the more adrenaline gets turned on in the body and more noradrenaline released in the brain. This chemical is like the key to the file cabinet. Once open, the drawer assigned to that particular kind of event reveals many folders full of data – images, sensations, sounds and more that are similar in nature to the current event being experienced.

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For pregnant women, anxiety affects future generations in a profound and direct way.

Another study shows the importance of learning how to moderate or eliminate stressful anxiety. Particularly for pregnant women, anxiety affects future generations in a profound and direct way. I highly recommend Rapid Eye Technology and Emotional Freedom Technique for anxiety. Most of my clients were surprised to find how easy and fast they could eliminate irrational fears and anxieties of many sorts. Chronic anxiety can also be quickly and effectively dealt with by a competent hypnotherapist. If you or someone you know is pregnant and under anxiety stress, please, help her and her unborn child by convincing the mother-to-be to seek out and obtain competent relief from her anxiety and stress.

A British study presented in Berlin at the Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), finds that pregnant women who are stressed, particularly late in pregnancy, have an increased risk of their child going on to develop asthma. Very anxious pregnant women are 65% more likely to have a child who later develops asthma than mothers with a lower level of anxiety.

Two studies have recently demonstrated a connection between anxiety in those close to the child (such as the mother, or, in some cases, the child’s social worker) and early onset of wheezing. But both of those studies only examined the post-natal period.

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According to a study of healthy women by Dr. Philippe R. Goldin and associates of the Department of Psychology at Stanford University, published in Biological Psychiatry, emotional suppression strategies actually increased the activity of the emotional areas of the amygdala and insula. In contrast, re-evaluation strategies in which one reconsiders the meaning of an event or situation, tended to significantly lower the activity of these brain regions.

Basically, when you suppress an emotion, you still feel it and your body must account for the increased chemical activity – usually resulting in illness or later increased emotional expression. On the other hand, re-evaluation of the judgment one gives their experience tends to significantly decrease the chemical activity of emotional brain areas – and leads to far less emotional expression later.

I recommend the same for men as well. When you feel angry for whatever reason, if you will take a step back in your mind, disengage with the object of your anger, and reconsider your judgments about it, you may find that you’ll feel better. And even more importantly, you’ll feel better later.

Perhaps the greatest emotion generating judgment we have is the need to be right. The energy we expend on our crusades rivals those of the middle ages – often giving us similar results: less energy overall, impoverished relationships, and overall poorer health. It’s wise and prudent to reconsider your positions in relation to others. It may be okay for more than one person to be right. It may be okay to let someone else have their opinion.

If you find you’re having trouble reconsidering your judgments, you might find value in a therapy like Rapid Eye Technology, EFT, hypnosis, or CBT.