Search

Results

But a distant memory?

22 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's reading from the Book of Isaiah, the Lord tells the people of Israel: "Remember not the events of the past." When it comes to past unpleasant events, however, research suggests that bad memories linger longer than pleasant ones. Scientists now have discovered that certain drugs associated with the regulation of blood pressure can be used to weaken or erase fearful memories. They hope there may be applications of these findings for people with post-traumatic stress disorders. Studies in animal models have shown that fearful memories sometimes change when recalled, a process known as reconsolidation, and that this reconsolidation stage is vulnerable to the blood pressure drugs called beta-adrenergic receptor blockers. Some ethicists, however, see problems. "An interesting complexity is the possibility that victims, say of violence, might wish to erase the painful memory and with it their ability to give evidence against assailants," said Professor John Harris, an expert in biological ethics at the University of Manchester. "Similarly criminals and witnesses to crime may, under the guise of erasing a painful memory, render themselves unable to give evidence." There's apparently a natural way to rid yourself of bad memories, too. A 2007 study involving brain scans found that test subjects had the ability to suppress specific memories at a particular moment in time through repeated practice. Source: An article by Robert Roy Britt for LiveScience.com

memories blood pressure medication post-traumatic stress disorder reconsolidation john harris

Restricted
The human cost of war comes home

19 Jul 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Even walking in a dark valley, the psalmist fears no evil with the Lord at his side. Growing numbers of U.S. military veterans, however, report being plagued by fears, nightmares, angry outbursts, and other psychological problems. Their disability claims have created a huge backlog of cases for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The number of unprocessed claims for those disabilities is now more than 400,000, up from 253,000 six years ago. The department said its average time for processing those claims, 162 days, is better than it has been in at least eight years. But it did not deny that it has a major problem, with some claims languishing for many months in the department's overtaxed bureaucracy. "There are some positive signs in terms of what we're doing," said Michael Walcoff, deputy undersecretary for benefits in the Veterans Benefits Administration. "But we know that veterans deserve better." Walcoff said the vast majority of the 82,000 claims the department received each month were not from veterans returning from the current wars. "We're still getting a lot of Vietnam vets," he said. Post-traumatic stress disorder has emerged as one of the most prevalent disability claims, after ailments like back pain and knee injuries. Not only are many new veterans receiving a diagnosis of the disorder, but an increasing number of Vietnam veterans are also reporting symptoms for the first time, officials and advocates said. One group, Veterans for Common Sense, has obtained records showing that some veterans are calling suicide hotlines to talk about their delayed disability claims. The group has called on the department to replace processors who take exceedingly long to handle claims. "We're not saying vets are threatening to commit suicide over the claims issues," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of the group. "We're saying V.A.'s claim situation is so bad that it is exacerbating veterans' already difficult situations." Source: An article by James Dao for the New York Times

suicide veterans for common sense vietnam war veterans benefits administration michael walcoff claims disabilities department of veterans affairs veterans post-traumatic stress disorder paul sullivan

Restricted
Homily stories

26 May 2024 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Cycle B

The last time I saw him was some 40 years ago at his parents’ home. He was leaving to go into basic training in the army. I gave him a blessing and wished him well. I didn’t recognize him decades later, but he did me. He reached out to shake my hand using his left arm. His right hand hung down from an immobile right arm. We talked. I soon learned that he had been injured in a bomb that killed all the other soldiers in their truck somewhere in the Middle East 35 years ago. He was the only survivor. All his friends died in the explosion. His body only partially healed. His soul never did. We met a few times. He was always polite. But his anger with God ran deep. Why did God allow war? What side was God on? Why did God abandon him and take his friends? Why didn’t God take him? Why didn’t God hear his prayers? He had his questions but wanted no answers. He carried his post-traumatic stress disorder with him, which he acknowledged to his too-early death, his not finished life. But he never admitted that his struggle with God could still allow him to see the mystery that is God. This is what we do celebrating the feast of the Most Holy Trinity this Memorial Day weekend. Together they both remind us of the mystery of God’s presence and that there are questions we can never answer. But we still can believe.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

post-traumatic stress disorder mystery of god's presence

Restricted