Meditation and Treatment of Female Trauma Survivors
Mo Yee Lee, Siu-Man Ng, Pamela Pui Yu Leung, Cecilia Lai Wan Chan
Integrative Body–Mind–Spirit Social Work March 25, 2009 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195301021.003.0014 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that PTSD, formally recognized in DSM-III in 1980 through advocacy efforts, has pervasive and devastating impacts, and that survivors frequently carry co-morbid conditions such as substance abuse, mood disorders, and dissociative identity disorder. Cites Macy (2002), who examined 384,000 Massachusetts Medicaid records and reported PTSD and depression as the most common psychiatric diagnoses, with PTSD patients spending 10 times as much time hospitalized as those with depression alone. |
Abstract
Abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) became a formal diagnosis included in DSM-III only in 1980 on account of the organized efforts of Charles Figley, Chaim Shatan, and other advocate groups for veterans and trauma survivors. Trauma has pervasive and devastating impacts on individuals. Trauma survivors, especially those with prolonged histories of interpersonal abuse, typically suffer from other “co-morbid conditions.” These include, but are not limited to, diagnoses related to substance abuse problems, mood disorders (e.g., depression and manic-depressive disorders), and dissociative identity disorder (Mueser et al., 1998). According to the “self-medication” hypothesis (Khantzian, 1990), people drink to cope with negative emotions and stressors. PTSD clients also have unusually high utilization rates of psychiatric services. Macy (2002) examined records of 384,000 Medicaid recipients in Massachusetts between 1997 and 1998 and reported that PTSD and depression were the most common psychiatric diagnoses among this population. Patients with a PTSD diagnosis spent 10 times as much time in the hospital as patients with a diagnosis of depression only.