Summary: Natural disasters cause PTSD easily and quickly. Suddenly, everything you own, everything you’ve worked for is gone – washed away by torrential rains and hurricane winds. How would this impact you? For some, up from the rubble of what they identified as their life crawls the powerful, consuming, emotional illness we know as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Surviving any life-threatening event can give rise to PTSD, including natural disasters: the statistics of which are alarming. On today’s episode of Changing Direction, I chatted with Joseph A. Boscarino, PhD, MPH, a Senior Investigator at the Geisinger Center for Health Research. Dr. Boscarino shared his most recent studies surrounding the victims of Hurricane Sandy and 9/11 in terms of: the #1 recovery tip for all trauma survivors how to form an emotional and physical response to trauma how to facilitate memory extinction immediately following trauma About my guest: Joseph A. Boscarino, PhD, MPH is a Senior Investigator at the Geisinger Center for Health Research, Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA. An epidemiologist, health services researcher and behavioral scientist, Dr. Boscarino focuses on behavioral health, chronic disease epidemiology, and neuropsychiatric research. Over the past 35 years, he has directed hundreds of studies related to behavioral health, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), addiction, chronic hepatitis, cardiovascular diseases, and other clinical areas. While the thought is more counseling is better, Dr. Boscarino’s findings have shown that those who receive brief counseling, may recover better than those who received no counseling or long-term conventional therapy. His current research at Geisinger includes assessing the health impact of PTSD among patients and disaster victims, studying the health economic impact of rheumatoid arthritis, and evaluating risk factors for PTSD, opioid addiction, and other mental health disorders. In addition, he is investigating PTSD’s role in the onset and course of inflammatory diseases, including ischemic heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. With National Institutes of Health funding, he is also developing the next generation of PTSD risk assessment tools using the World Trade Center Disaster Study and other trauma data. Dr. Boscarino earned his PhD in Social Psychology at New York University and a MPH in Epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley. He completed Post-Doctoral Fellowships in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Health Services Research at Yale University-West Haven VA Medical Center, and in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. He is a member of the American College of Epidemiology, American Psychosomatic Society, and the Society of Biological Psychiatry. A Vietnam War veteran, he was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies for his World Trade Center disaster and warzone research.
