Varda Raziel Jacont is a psychologist with a daily call-in radio show in Televiv, Israel. She is interviewed by Dr. Dave on how Israelis have learned to cope with the violence of war and terrorism. Inasmuch as Israel has been dealing with terrorism and war longer than other countries, they may have some things to teach us in regard to surviving under such stressful conditions. Dr. Dave reviews a variety of treatment options for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The show closes with a song about peace. It’s called “Spirit of Lennon – Peace” by Brad Stanfield.
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I know this is an old show, but I just listened to it. Wanted to respond to a couple of the comments Dr. Dave made.
First, the Cipralex that Varda mentioned is the same as Lexapro/Escitalopram in the US, ie basically the same medication as Celexa.
Second, Varda mentioned the idea of a medication to prevent PTSD. I believe she was referring to the idea of giving a beta-blocker (a common heart medication) to individuals as close as possible to the time of the traumatic event. The idea is basically (as I understand it!) that by reducing the body’s adrenaline-mediated response to the event as it happens the PTSD may be prevented from developing.
She also talked about the finding that talking over traumatic events may actually be harmful, and Dr. Dave expressed some skepticism. I think that Dr. Dave is correct that individuals with PTSD need to talk about the event that happened in order to recover.
But what Varda was referring to was something different, I think. In recent years, when a traumatic event happens, there has been a trend of having a team of psychologists jump in and provide counseling and discussion whether individuals are having having symptoms or not. The theory is that forcing someone to talk about a potentially traumatic event repeatedly in the absence of symptoms indicating the development of PTSD can be harmful, and can on its own induce symptoms.