Publications by authors named "Vermetten E"

Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the biological differences linked to PTSD by examining DNA methylation changes in blood, suggesting they could indicate susceptibility or effects of trauma.
  • Conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, the research included nearly 5,100 participants to identify specific genetic markers associated with PTSD.
  • Results showed 11 significant CpG sites related to PTSD, with some also showing correlations between blood and brain tissue methylation, highlighting their potential role in understanding PTSD biology.
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  • The study investigates the impact of genetic variations in FAAH, CRHR1, and CNR1 polymorphisms on anxiety and trauma symptoms in military veterans after stressful deployments.
  • Nearly 949 veterans were genotyped and evaluated for anxiety and PTSD symptoms before and six months post-deployment, but no significant relationship was found between these genetic variations and anxiety or PTSD symptoms.
  • Childhood trauma emerged as a significant factor in these models, highlighting the need to consider past experiences when examining genetic influences on mental health outcomes.
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  • Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to long-term mental health issues like PTSD, and are notably more common in military personnel who must preserve mental health for their duties.
  • A study with 752 recruits from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force found that self-compassion, which involves treating oneself kindly, significantly reduces PTSD symptoms and is negatively impacted by ACEs.
  • The research indicated that self-compassion only partially mediates the relationship between ACEs and PTSD symptoms, suggesting the need for further studies to develop educational programs aimed at increasing self-compassion in individuals with ACEs to help lessen PTSD symptoms.
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  • The COVID-19 pandemic forced mental health clinicians to transition from in-person to digital service delivery, which helped maintain care and meet the rising demand for mental health services.
  • The study aimed to explore issues at micro, meso, and macro levels regarding digital mental health interventions (DMHI) to enhance treatment outcomes and client satisfaction.
  • Findings indicated that both clients and clinicians were generally satisfied with DMHI, while community partners recognized the importance of addressing policy uncertainties as these digital services are likely to play a key role in the future of mental healthcare.
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Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic with demonstrated preliminary clinical efficacy in a range of psychiatric disorders. Evaluating the impact of psilocybin on cognitive function is essential to unravel its potential benefits and risks. In this systematic review, we assessed psilocybin's effect on cognitive function through a comprehensive search of electronic databases from inception to January 2024, identifying 20 articles involving 2,959 participants.

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  • Researchers aimed to create and validate Methylation Risk Scores (MRS) using machine learning to identify individuals at risk for PTSD based on genomic and trauma exposure data.
  • The study developed three models: eMRS (which combines trauma exposure and methylation data), MoRS (which relies only on methylation data), and MoRSAE (which adjusts MoRS for trauma exposure).
  • The eMRS model showed the best performance with a 92% accuracy, and all models were able to predict post-deployment PTSD significantly, suggesting that including trauma exposure improves risk assessment.
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Background: Neurorehabilitation in military populations is complicated by higher rates of PTSD and unique characteristics of military institutions. These factors can adversely impact the patient-therapist therapeutic alliance and engagement with the rehabilitation process leading to poorer outcomes. MDMA is a non-classical psychedelic with pro-social and fear regulating properties.

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  • At the 39th International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies meeting, leading experts discussed their contributions to technology in addressing traumatic stress.
  • Dr. Brian P. Marx focused on creating large-scale tools for screening and treating traumatic stress, while Dr. Barbara O. Rothbaum pioneered virtual reality for exposure therapy.
  • Retired Col. Dr. Eric Vermetten explored innovative treatments and assessments in military contexts, and their reflections offered insights into the challenges and successes of their work in advancing technology-enabled support.
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The positive results of MDMA from Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) call for a critical evaluation of its regulatory status within the European mental healthcare system. This is driven by the recent submission of MDMA-AT for FDA approval in the United States. Unless coordinated efforts in the European regulatory landscape start, there may be potential divergences in national regulatory strategies.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and differences in DNA methylation, a type of gene regulation, in blood samples from individuals diagnosed with PTSD compared to trauma-exposed controls.
  • Researchers conducted a large-scale analysis involving over 5,000 participants from various civilian and military studies, using standardized procedures for PTSD assessment and DNA methylation testing.
  • The results revealed 11 specific DNA methylation sites associated with PTSD, and found similarities in methylation patterns between blood and brain tissues, suggesting a biological basis for the condition.
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Importance: Peacekeepers in United Nations missions experience potentially traumatic events, resulting in increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understanding the course and risk factors of PTSD symptom severity is crucial to ensure personnel safety.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of PTSD, symptom severity trajectories, and potential risk factors associated with adverse trajectories among Japanese peacekeepers deployed in South Sudan.

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Israel is currently under a state of continued unrest and state of war. There has been an influx of financial aid to treat the mental health fallout both from within Israel and abroad. Despite increased research into resilience, treatment and wide-scale interventions, there is a concern that this is not significantly influencing mental health aid allocation.

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Intense interest surrounds current research on psychedelics, particularly regarding their potential in treating mental health disorders. Various studies suggest a link between the subjective effects produced by psychedelics and their therapeutic efficacy. Neuroimaging evidence indicates an association of changes in brain functional connectivity with the subjective effects of psychedelics.

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  • PTSD genetics have been difficult to study compared to other psychiatric disorders, limiting our biological understanding of the condition.
  • A large-scale meta-analysis involving over 1.2 million individuals identified 95 genome-wide significant loci, with 80 being new discoveries related to PTSD.
  • Researchers identified 43 potential causal genes linked to neurotransmitter activity, developmental processes, synaptic function, and immune regulation, enhancing our knowledge of the neurobiological systems involved in PTSD.
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  • Military personnel face varying long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms after deployment, highlighting the need for better mental health policies.
  • The study tracked 1,032 Dutch soldiers from pre-deployment to 10 years post-deployment, identifying four different patterns of depressive symptoms: resilient, intermediate-stable, symptomatic-chronic, and late-onset-increasing.
  • Key factors influencing these trajectories include early-life trauma, PTSD symptoms, and deployment stressors, with a significant number showing resilience despite challenges.
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Background: Incorporating genomic data into risk prediction has become an increasingly useful approach for rapid identification of individuals most at risk for complex disorders such as PTSD. Our goal was to develop and validate Methylation Risk Scores (MRS) using machine learning to distinguish individuals who have PTSD from those who do not.

Methods: Elastic Net was used to develop three risk score models using a discovery dataset (n = 1226; 314 cases, 912 controls) comprised of 5 diverse cohorts with available blood-derived DNA methylation (DNAm) measured on the Illumina Epic BeadChip.

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Psilocybin is the most researched classic psychedelic for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD). While optimizing set and setting are considered essential for efficacy and safety, patient perspectives on these aspects have rarely been investigated. To address this knowledge gap, the current paper explored the experiences of 11 TRD patients (8 women, 3 men) participating in a double-blind randomized clinical trial with a single session of oral (1, 10 or 25 mg) psilocybin treatment.

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High-risk professionals and specialised nurses in hospitals are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events. Psychotrauma researchers have extensively studied personal risk factors of traumatisation among high-risk professionals, but it is hard to understand psychological functioning when professionals are decontextualised from their social environment. Generally, it has been well documented that to reduce the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental health problems related to traumatisation, it is essential to be embedded in a supportive social environment.

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Background: The International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) is a recent self-report measure to assess the severity and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD) as defined by the 11th revision of the . Few studies have examined the psychometric properties of full and short ITQ versions in depth. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Dutch-translated 28-item ITQ and the 12-item version.

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As Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents significantly impacts their well-being, effective treatment is of great importance. Little is known, however, about the novel, multi-modal virtual reality supported, exposure-based psychotherapeutic interventions such as 3MDR in this population. To describe the 3MDR treatment of an adolescent with PTSD who did not respond to previous exposure-based PTSD interventions.

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Article Synopsis
  • PTSD genetics are harder to study compared to other mental health disorders, resulting in limited biological insights from past research.
  • A large-scale analysis involving over 1.2 million individuals found 95 significant genetic loci related to PTSD, with 80 being new discoveries.
  • The study identified 43 potential causal genes linked to neurotransmitters, synaptic function, and immune responses, enhancing understanding of PTSD's biological mechanisms and suggesting new research directions.
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After the Great East Japan Earthquake [GEJE], approximately 70,000 Japan Ground Self Defense Force [JGSDF] personnel were deployed, risking Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD]. The network approach to psychopathology suggests that symptoms may cause and exacerbate each other, resulting in the emergence and maintenance of disorders, including PTSD. It is therefore important to further explore the temporal interplay between symptoms.

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent psychiatric condition that significantly impacts daily functioning in patients but lacks adequate treatment options. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) as an adjunct to psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD has been studied increasingly for the last two decades and has shown promising results through quantitative data. However, few qualitative studies have been conducted to investigate patients' experiences who participate in these trials.

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Background: Ketamine and its enantiomers are widely researched and increasingly used to treat mental disorders, especially treatment-resistant depression. The phenomenology of ketamine-induced experiences and their relation to its psychotherapeutic potential have not yet been systematically investigated.

Aims: To describe the phenomenology of patient experiences during oral esketamine treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and to explore the potential therapeutic relevance of these experiences.

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This narrative state-of-the-art review paper describes the progress in the understanding and treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Over the last four decades, the scientific landscape has matured, with many interdisciplinary contributions to understanding its diagnosis, etiology, and epidemiology. Advances in genetics, neurobiology, stress pathophysiology, and brain imaging have made it apparent that chronic PTSD is a systemic disorder with high allostatic load.

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