PTSD

In the final installment of this three-part series, Bonnie Petrie and reporter Robin Berghaus go from an isolated stretch of desert along the Rio Grande, where wild peyote grows, to the exuberant rooms at SXSW, where they consider the future of psychedelics-as-medicine, and back to the hallowed halls of the Texas Legislature, where the future of the so-called Ibogaine Bill is uncertain.

David Morilak, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and director of the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience at UT Health San Antonio, studies rats in an effort to understand the characteristics of stressful events that can lead to PTSD in humans.

Some hospitals are bringing in dogs to spend entire shifts with doctors and nurses. The trained canines help staff cope with the stress of their work amid high levels of burnout.

The annual PTSD conference hosted by STRONG STAR and UT Health San Antonio highlighted women veteran and servicemember voices.

David Morilak, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and director of the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience at UT Health San Antonio, studies rats in an effort to understand the characteristics of stressful events that can lead to PTSD in humans.

Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling was a paratrooper during WWII. After the war, he wrote a short story inspired by the experience. It's now being published for the first time in The Strand.

The diagnosis of PTSD has evolved significantly since the Vietnam War, shifting from a condition primarily associated with combat veterans to a broader understanding that includes survivors of various traumatic experiences.

'We've seen women who have not gone outside the door in six months,' said Margaret Constantino, executive director of the Center for Refugee Services in San Antonio. 'How does anybody stay healthy in that kind of environment?'

Research into psychedelic drugs was halted in the 1960s amid concern about recreational use. Now, the VA is among dozens of medical providers resuming that work.

75 percent of the UT Health study participants saw a significant reduction in symptoms after testing a compressed form of prolonged exposure therapy.