You’re not crazy: Recovery from trauma is different for everybody

TheConversation: The very public trials of the Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and the Colorado theater shooting suspect, James Holmes, put images and stories about these traumatic events once again in front of the public. During both phases of the Boston Marathon bombing trial, testimony from survivors and first responders, as well as graphic images of the bombing, were front and center on television, the internet, and print media. And survivors of the Colorado theater shooting have vividly described in their trial testimony that night in detail and their terror and anguish seeing loved ones next to them dead or dying. So what are the psychological and health effects of exposure to traumatic events like these?

Poor memory in teenagers with brain injury

Canterbury: Teenagers who have suffered traumatic brain injury do not retain information as well as others and it can affect their studying, work life and friendships, a University of Canterbury postgraduate communication disorders student says.

Life-saving treatments learnt from war being missed

King's College: Trauma is responsible for more global deaths annually than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Yet healthcare systems in many countries are missing out on life-saving treatments learnt on the battlefield, according to a recent review. Medical advancements made by the military in times of conflict, are increasingly seen in the hospitals of high income countries but are being missed in poorer countries, where trauma is the leading cause of death in young people. Many innovations by frontline doctors in stabilising and treating severely wounded soldiers could be adapted for use in other healthcare settings.

Childhood trauma linked to early psychosis later in life

Queensland: Research showing that patients with early psychosis report high rates of childhood trauma has important implications for clinicians, a University of Queensland psychologist has found. Psychologist Mr Michael Duhig said more than three-quarters of early psychosis patients reported exposure to childhood trauma, including one or a combination of emotional, physical or sexual abuse or physical neglect.

What’s stress got to do with it? How trauma-induced changes to gene function can lead to psychosis

UNSW. Australia: Childhood trauma is understood to be a significant risk factor for developing a psychotic or mood disorder later in life. But how does this trauma change our brain’s stress response systems and contribute to mental ill-health?

In people undergoing emergency surgery to the chest or abdomen, how effective is transfusing a person's own blood compared with donor blood

Cochrane: Trauma is the leading cause of death in people under the age of 45 years. Over the past 20 years, transfusions using an individual's own blood, salvaged during surgery through a process called 'cell salvage' (also known as intraoperative blood salvage), have been used as an alternative to blood products donated from other individuals (standard care) during surgical procedures.