Living with PTSD

Magnesium and Anxiety/Depression

Interesting press release from MIT:

"Magnesium helps build bones, make proteins, release energy stored in muscles and regulate body temperature. In the cover story of the Dec. 2 issue of Neuron, MIT researchers report a possible new role for magnesium: helping maintain memory function in middle age and beyond.

The adult daily nutritional requirement for magnesium, a trace mineral found in foods such as dark green, leafy vegetables, is around 400 mg a day. But studies show that as many as half of all Americans do not consume enough magnesium. Magnesium deficits have been tied to allergies, asthma, attention deficit disorder, anxiety, heart disease, muscle cramps and other conditions."

Read the entire release here.

This got me looking at more recent research about magnesium and anxiety/depression. Here's a sample:

Neuropharmacology. 2004 Dec;47(8):1189-97. Magnesium-deficient diet alters depression- and anxiety-related behavior in mice--influence of desipramine and Hypericum perforatum extract.

Compared to control mice fed with normal diet, mice receiving a low Mg diet (10% of daily requirement) for several weeks displayed increased immobility time in the forced swim test, indicating enhanced depression-like behavior. In addition, the partial Mg-depletion increased anxiety-related behavior in the light/dark and open field test, while locomotor activity or motor coordination was not influenced.

J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Oct;23(5):529S-533S. Magnesium attenuates post-traumatic depression/anxiety following diffuse traumatic brain injury in rats.

The improvement in post-traumatic depression/anxiety conferred by Mg adds further weight to available evidence of Mg's benefit as a neuroprotective agent after TBI.

Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 May;78(1):7-12. Antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like activity of magnesium in mice.

The antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of magnesium, an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor inhibitor, were studied in mice using the forced swim test and elevated plus-maze test, respectively. The doses of 20 and 30 mg Mg/kg, reduced immobility time in the forced swim test exerting antidepressant-like activity. In the elevated plus-maze test, magnesium at the same doses produced anxiolytic-like effect. The doses of magnesium active in both tests did not affect locomotor activity. To evaluate the tolerance to these effects, we also performed experiments on the following acute/chronic magnesium treatment schedule: chronic saline and saline challenge at 0.5 h before behavioral experiments or serum magnesium determination (S+S), chronic saline and magnesium challenge (S+Mg), chronic magnesium and saline challenge (Mg+S), chronic magnesium and magnesium challenge (Mg+Mg). The antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effect of magnesium was demonstrated in groups treated acutely and chronically with magnesium (Mg+Mg), but not in the Mg+S group. Moreover, these effects seem to be connected with at least 58% increase in serum magnesium concentration. The results indicate that magnesium induces the antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects without tolerance to these activities, which suggests a potential antidepressant and anxiolytic activity of magnesium in these disorders in humans.

This is the product I am taking, not only for the magnesium, but for a number of the other nutritents.

How to get magnesium in foods:

Beans, black	1 cup	120
Broccoli, raw	1 cup	22
Halibut	fillet	170
Nuts, peanuts	1 oz	64
Okra, frozen	1 cup	94
Oysters	3 oz	49
Plantain, raw	1 medium	66
Rockfish	1 fillet	51
Scallop	6 large	55
Seeds, pumpkin and squash	1 oz (142 seeds)	151
Soy milk	1 cup	47
Spinach, cooked	1 cup	157
Tofu	block	37
Whole grain cereal, ready-to-eat	cup	24
Whole grain cereal, cooked	1 cup	56
Whole wheat bread	1 slice	24

Researchers Hope Monkeys Can Provide New Insights Into Depression

Monkeys get depressed, too, and scientists hope that studying them could lead to better treatments for depressed people. Researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center will report new findings about patterns of depression in monkeys in the April issue of the Journal of Biological Psychology. The article is now available on-line.

The scientists found that depressed female monkeys become socially withdrawn and have reduced body fat, low levels of activity, high heart rates and disruptions in hormone levels – all of which are known or suspected characteristics of major depression in women. Their research is based on female monkeys because women are 66 percent more likely than men to experience depression during their lifetimes.

“We believe these monkeys can be a useful model for learning more about depression in women,” said Carol Shively, Ph.D., professor of pathology at Wake Forest Baptist. “Current ways to treat depression are only partially successful. This may be an important opportunity to develop and test new treatments.”

Full story: Researchers Hope Monkeys Can Provide New Insights Into Depression.

Study Recommends New Approach to Diagnosing Kids' Depression

There's a new approach to treating teenage depression -- something that one out of every five teenagers experiences by age 18. A new study suggests that one way to help is to involve kids' primary physicians in identifying symptoms. Listen to the NPR interview and read the study abstract at the JAMA site for more details. And to hear about depression from a teenager's point of view, listen to the Youth Radio segment on NPR called Me and My Depression.

Aussie Composer Sends Budgies to Sleep

This is a very interesting article about alphamusic. I am using the Centerpointe Holosync technology that actually takes you through alpha into theta (associated with creativity and the dream state of sleep) and finally delta (where the majority of the brain chemicals we need are produced). If you are interested in this, let me know and I'll tell you about my experiences with Holosync.

(PRWEB) January 19, 2005 -- On a freezing Sunday in Jaslo, Poland, three pet budgies, named Cziko, Czako and Dako, fell asleep in broad daylight to the strains of John Levine’s alphamusic. Consider that parrots only sleep in the dark and this funny little story instantly becomes intriguing.

For Levine, who has spent years developing alphamusic, the sleeping budgies endorse his belief in its influence, “Without human interference, suggestion or expectation, the budgies show the connection between alphamusic, the brain’s response and behaviour,” he says.

While it takes years of meditation practice to find alpha ‘on demand’, Levine has proved that alphamusic takes you there in less than five minutes. In alpha the brain operates at low frequencies, needed to produce the ‘feel good hormones," seratonin and dopamine. At this level, the mind relaxes, yet is completely conscious and alert.

In a test conducted at a Krakow Medical Institute, a chain smoking patient with extreme hyperactivity agreed to be tested via EEG. Wired up, the patient’s brainwaves at first registered high beta levels (18-25 Hz), associated with extreme feelings of ‘fight or flight’. After listening to Levine’s composition Silence of Peace for four minutes, the patient’s brainwaves subsided to alpha, below 12 Hz. The patient reported feeling calm and in control of their stress and anxiety.

Each alphamusic composition explores and re-explores a single musical plain. While it seems to ‘go nowhere’ and has no dramatic crescendo, alphamusic keeps the mind interested and moving forward, and discourages emotional ‘spiking’.
Lives transformed

Levine is a graduate composer from the University of Sydney, Australia. He has studied and taught meditation for over two decades, as well as exploring the metaphysics of illness, psychology, brain physiology and the mechanics of hearing.

He is constantly inspired by feedback from his listeners. Stewart Holmes, a 49-year old environmental scientist, lives in Cambridge, UK, is an ardent fan of alphamusic. After a freak boating accident left him with a fractured skull, Holmes contracted often deadly cerebral meningitis.

He spent the next 15 years managing his own recovery, then embarked on a degree course at an English university. Dyslexia added to his difficulties with achieving his post-graduate degree.

When he chanced upon alphamusic, it significantly improved his ability to focus on and absorb written material. Holmes says, “Rehab programs use music to calm you down, because you get so stressed and angry trying to recuperate, but it didn’t work for me. Alphamusic is completely different. I put it on and it’s like a curtain coming down over all the bother. Somehow it helps me focus and direct my energy.”

Children respond well to alphamusic. Those diagnosed with hyperactivity (add/adhd) disorders find it especially effective. Judith Schultz, President of the Australian Wannabee Foundation, which supports add/adhd children and their parents, says,“Within five minutes of listening to John’s music on headphones, add/adhd/hyperactive children were saying they felt sleepy.”

In England, Levine conducts alphamusic workshops for hyperactive children. Using alphamusic, they focus on tasks for far longer than usually expected. Meanwhile in Australia two dozen pre-schools use alphamusic to help children focus on collaborative and creative tasks.

At St Matthew’s Primary School, Cambridge, U.K., Principal David Somerville has introduced alphamusic to remedial math’s classes and even plays alphamusic during math’s exams.

Conventional medicine is currently very interested in the use of music for pain and anxiety management. The University of Melbourne School of Music has received a government subsidy to play live music in the waiting rooms and wards of the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The BBC documentary series, The Power of Music, reports a 50% drop in the use of analgesics since music was introduced in Swiss hospital wards. At the Jagelonian Medical Research Institute in Cracow, Poland, doctors have used alphamusic for research into pain management strategies in cancer patients. In another study, a dental research program successfully used alphamusic to reduce patient anxiety.

Complementary health practitioners can afford to smile at this enthusiasm from the mainstream. They have always recognised music as a powerful assistant. The late Jack Temple, author of ‘The Healer’ and ‘The Medicine Man’ said,“I am so taken by John`s alphamusic that I not only play it in my clinic, but also at home. I find the music completely relaxing.”

At the moment, Levine is negotiating with a well-known Oxford foundation to conduct further research into the effects of alphamusic on the brain. From the budgies that fell asleep to alphamusic in 2003, to the end of 2004, Levine has released 7 CDs of alphamusic, all of which are free to listen to at www.silenceofmusic.com Levine has an 8-week Alpha Memory and Learning Course about to begin at Cambridge University, England. An Australian tour is scheduled for April 2005.

Iraq... The Aftermath

On June 16, 2003, Dr. Ali Hameed Rasheed, an Iraqi psychiatrist, submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Health in Baghdad to create a psycho-social mental health referral system for children in Iraq. Though such systems already exist in many countries, Iraq is lacking one. The goal of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Program for Iraqi children is to increase mental health awareness and reduce stigmatization of mental illness in the community.

Link: IslamOnline - Iraq... The Aftermath.

Psychology Today: It s magical. It s malleable. It s..memory

...the ability of the brain to utilize stress hormones can go badly awry--and a memory can become not simply permanent but intrusive and relentless. "Suppose somebody shoots you and years later you're still waking up in a cold sweat with nightmares," says McGaugh. "The hormonal regulation of memory, when pushed to an extreme in a traumatic situation, may make memories virtually indelible."

Such memories seem so powerful that even an innocuous stimulus can arouse them. Roger Pittman compares the inescapable memories of PTSD, where flashbacks to a nightmarish trauma intrude relentlessly on daily life, to a black hole, "a place in space-time that has such high gravity that even light cannot pass by without being drawn into it."

So with ordinary associations and memories in PTSD: "As all roads lead to Rome, all the patient's thoughts lead to the trauma. A war veteran can't look at his wife's nude body without recalling with revulsion the naked bodies he saw in a burial pit in Vietnam, can't stand the sight of children's dolls because their eyes remind him of the staring eyes of the war dead."

The tragic twist is that, Pittman believes, each time a memory floods in again, the same stress hormones are released, running the same neural paths of that particular memory and binding the victim ever tighter in the noose of the past. Yet in response to the stress of recalling trauma, the body releases a flood of calming opiates. These neurochemicals, which help us meet the immediate demands of stress and trauma, might create a kind of unfortunate biochemical reward for the traumatic memory. "This whole question of an appetitive component to trauma is really fascinating and as yet unexplored," notes Pittman. "It may explain the intrusive, repeating nature of these memories. Maybe, however horrible the trauma, there's something rewarding in the brain chemicals released."

Read the rest of this fascinating article on memory, brain, and chemicals at Psychology Today. Link: Psychology Today: It s magical. It s malleable. It s..memory.

Wounds That Never Heal

Millions of Americans endure intense trauma each year, and many of them may be suffering the symptoms of PTSD. A 1989 study of 1,007 men and women ages 21 to 30 who are members of a large health plan in Detroit found 39 percent had at sometime in their lives endured the type of trauma that can lead to PTSD. Of those, one in four developed symptoms of posttraumatic stress, according to Naomi Breslau, Ph.D., a sociologist specializing in psychiatric epidemiology at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

If Dr. Breslau's findings are confirmed by other studies, as many as one in 10 young Americans is likely to suffer from the symptoms of PTSD at some point in his or her life. Yet only a small number of PTSD victims recognize the source of their trouble, let alone seek help for their symptoms.

Scientists have yet to determine what type of person is most susceptible to PTSD, but one clue may come from dozens of studies with animals that show that suffering severe, trauma in early life increases susceptibility to the impact of other trauma later on. One implication is that people who were victims of abuse as children may be among the most vulnerable to PTSD as adults. "Once you're exposed to early kinds of stresses, you're more reactive to later ones," says the VA's Dr. Krystal.

As researchers have focused on trauma and the brain, they have found two other major shifts in addition to the noradrenaline system's increased vulnerability to adrenaline rushes: One of the main changes is in the brain circuit linking the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. During stress, this circuit triggers the release of CRF, an important stress hormone. Trauma seems to leave this brain system prone to oversecreting CRF, thereby reacting to emergencies that do not exist in reality.

Very interesting reading from Psychology Today about the lasting damage that trauma causes. Link: Wounds That Never Heal.