UT collaborates in study of post traumatic stress

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 7.7 million Americans experience post traumatic stress disorder each year — a number that may grow as President Barack Obama sends thousands more troops into Afghanistan

The UT Health Science Campus is partnering with a host of other universities and institutions to study "risk and resilience factors" for the development of PTSD in members of the Ohio National Guard.

The Kaptur Combat Mental Health Initiative is named after Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who championed the project.

According to Marijo Tamburrino, professor and chair of the department of psychiatry at UT who is the co-principal investigator of the study, the initiative involves researching and monitoring 3,000 members of the Ohio National Guard before and after being deployed for battle.

The first phase of the study began in November of 2008 and consisted of National Guard members receiving one-hour telephone interviews with psychiatry researchers, she said. Over 1,000 of the total 3,000 service members have been interviewed so far.

For the second phase, a subsample of 500 people will be selected randomly from the original 3,000 for a longer, more detailed one-on-one, in-person interview.

Tamburrino said the assessments of the 3,000 members of the Guard will continue each year until 2019.

The coalition working on the study includes the HSC, the University of Michigan, the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Tamburrino said.

The U.S. Department of Defense is responsible for funding the project and has so far allotted $12.3 million to the research, some of which will be used for brain imaging of Guard members, she said.

"We are trying to advance the science of understanding risk and resilience factors involved with the [psychology effects] of deployment," Tamburrino said. "We're also looking at other emotional reactions and disorders that come about after serving in a war."

Other emotional reactions and disorders Tamburrino mentioned included depression, anxiety disorders, trouble sleeping, trouble concentrating, hyper arousal and re-experiencing events that occurred during battle.

Tamburrino also explained what type of situations may cause PTSD.

"You need to be exposed to a catastrophic situation where you feel that your life or someone else's life is in danger," he said. "Absence of support is a risk factor for PTSD."

The types of support Tamburrino suggested were strong family support, support within a Guard member's unit, determining how mentally prepared a Guard member is and the amount of support post-deployment needed.