PTSD Virtual Retreat Members Speak: Fearless Nation in Second Life

This amazing video shows how the Fearless Nation PTSD Support virtual retreat has helped several people with PTSD. Check it out:



We have lots of new stories coming up on PTSD News in the coming week or two. Stay tuned.

The Psychological Cost of War: Military Combat and Mental Health

As we head into Memorial Day, it's important to remember how much war costs us. A new study puts the psychological cost of the global war on terror in dollars and cents: "Our estimates imply lower-bound health care costs of $1.5 to $2.7 billion for combat-induced PTSD." That's a two-year cost, so the total cost over time is dramatically greater.

You can read the entire paper in PDF form here:

2011-3-1-cesur-sabia-tekin.pdf

Facebook challenge grant aims to donate 100 service dogs to vets with PTSD

My article on the Dog Bless USA Challenge Grant, written for Mother Nature Network:

Facebook challenge grant aims to donate 100 service dogs to vets with PTSD

Fearless Nation issues call for volunteers and donations

Founder Colleen Crary writes: "Fearless Nation Needs Your Help NOW. Friends, we are being flooded with incoming soldiers and trauma sufferers. I am doing everything myself and working 16 hour days. I have also been financing FN for more than 2 years out of my own dwindling pocket."

Read more and find out how you can help.

Respiration, CO2 and PTSD

A new study entitled "The effects of CO2 inhalation in patients with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)", published in the journal European Psychiatry, examines the link between the "psychometric effects of CO2 on panic anxiety and PTSD symptoms in subjects with PTSD."

I can't access the entire paper, but there is previous research linking getting too much carbon dioxide (and at the same time not getting enough oxygen) with anxiety disorders (especially in children).

What does all of this suggest? Nothing conclusive.

But it does lead us to remember one key word:

BREATHE.