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In the current study, the research team used a statistical/machine learning technique, called random forests, that has the ability to "learn" how to classify individuals based on examples. Such AI programs build "decision" rules and mathematical models that enable decision-making with increasing accuracy as the amount of training data grows. The researchers first recorded standard, hours-long diagnostic interviews, called Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, or CAPS, of 53 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with military-service-related PTSD, as well as those of 78 veterans without the disease. The recordings were then fed into voice software from SRI International—the institute that also invented Siri—to yield...

The forgotten victims: Why the death toll for September 11 continues to rise. “It’s the longest day in the history of days,” first responder John Feal says about September 11, 2001. For him, and tens of thousands of others, it’s a day that never ended. It was a clear, still Tuesday morning in New York City, when civilians looked up and saw an American Airlines plane flying unusually low. At 8:46am, a terrible sound pierced one of the biggest cities in the world, as the domestic passenger plane flew through the North Tower of the World Trade Centre, instantly killing...

Facebook in a blog post on Monday affirmed its "commitment" to the workers who moderate the platform's content after a report found many of them suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), drug abuse and anxiety. The post began by acknowledging "questions, misunderstandings and accusations around Facebook's content review processes," a likely reference to an investigation by The Verge published earlier Monday. "We want to continue to hear from our content reviewers, our partners and even the media — who hold us accountable and give us the opportunity to improve," the company wrote. The Verge interviewed a dozen current and former...

A new PTSD protocol promised a 90 percent success rate without drugs and only a few hours of therapy.

Hundreds of vets have tried out an experimental new treatment that could change how the world addresses mental disorders. Tony didn’t know what to expect when he walked into the Brain Treatment Center in San Diego, California, last spring. The former Navy SEAL only knew that he needed help. His service in Iraq and Afghanistan was taking a heavy toll on his mental and physical wellbeing. He had trouble concentrating, remembering, and was given to explosive bursts of anger. “If somebody cut me off driving, I was ready to kill ’em at the drop of a hat,” he said. And...

A Catholic archdiocese outside Cincinnati is investigating the actions of some of its high school students during the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington Friday. Some students wearing Make America Great Again hats and clothing surrounded and taunted a Native American troupe as it performed the "American Indian Movement" song about strength and courage. It's not clear which of those young people surrounding the Native Americans are students of Covington Catholic High School in Covington, Kentucky. But the Diocese of Covington criticized any students who participated in the action, which broke out as a group from the school was in Washington...

Wild Pursuit and Standoff on 5 Fwy at Camp Pendleton A driver who struck a man on a motorized scooter during a wild, three-hour pursuit that moved through three counties is in custody after a standoff with California Highway Patrol officers along the 5 Freeway at Camp Pendleton Thursday afternoon. CHP officers pull a driver from a vehicle on the side of the 5 Freeway in the Camp Pendleton area after a lengthy pursuit and standoff on Jan. 3, 2019. (Credit: KTLA) The driver — of an older-model maroon Honda Civic — had eluded authorities despite multiple PIT maneuver...

Navy veteran Sailor Jerri rewrote the lyrics to the song "Hallelujah" then sings them.

The Duke of Cambridge has spoken of his shock at being called out to his first suicide as an air ambulance pilot in a joint interview with his brother, Prince Harry, on tackling masculinity and mental health issues. Prince William said the “tipping point” for him in understanding how men struggle to deal with mental health problems came with his work with the East Anglian air ambulance. “My first callout was to a male suicide and I was told there were five suicides or attempted suicides every day in East Anglia alone. When I looked into it I was shocked...

On Veterans Day, it is important for those who have never served to take a moment to understand the solitary world of a vet. Millions of vets are and have been successful in all endeavors. They are doctors, lawyers, business people and a thousand other professions. Not all have PTSD; not all are the troubled, brooding, street corner homeless guy, although they exist and need help desperately. No matter how successful a vet might be materially, more often than not, vets are often alone, mentally and spiritually each day and for the rest of their lives. Vets’ stories are all...

Another tragic mass shooting has taken place and, as usual, both sides are using it to further their political agenda. As the left blames guns and the right blames mental illness, both sides are completely missing the elephant in the room. If Ian David Long was diagnosed with PTSD, as reported, he was likely prescribed a slew of medications from the VA which have been tied to most every mass shooting in recent history. According to his neighbors and family, Long suffered from PTSD. While those who suffer from PTSD can have a myriad of horrific symptoms, homicidal ideation is...

A gunman has opened fire at a country music bar during a student night in the city of Thousand Oaks, California, injuring at least 11 people and killing several. The shooter stormed the Borderline Bar and Grill wearing a black trenchcoat armed with a pistol equipped with an extended magazine and smoke grenades and began targeting people as young as 18. Among the victims was a Ventura County deputy sheriff and a doorman - as well as a cashier and college students. The lifeless body of a suspected male victim was seen outside of the venue.

Full title/header: Tattooed trenchcoat-wearing ex-Marine, 28, is identified as gunman who massacred twelve people during student night at country bar: Suspect killed himself after hurling smoke grenades onto dance floor and slaying cop in California xxx xxxx, 28, opened fire at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Southern California, at 11.20pm He was dressed in all-black and let off at least 30 shots from a pistol with an extended magazine Witnesses said Long also let off smoke grenades to confuse the terrified crowds In April, police and mental health specialists were called to Long's home after a disturbance but...

A wounded veteran is sounding off on a study that found some students are exhibiting symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder following the 2016 election. The study, which was released Monday by the Journal of American College Health, evaluated 769 students at Arizona State University studying psychology in January and February 2017. About 25 percent of respondents reported symptoms of PTSD because Donald Trump won the election. “What we were interested in seeing was, did the election for some people constitute a traumatic experience? And we found that it did for 25 percent of young adults,” said lead author Melissa...

This is just ridiculous. It’s an election. It’s not war. It’s not anything traumatic in the slightest. You go in, you vote, you leave, and watch results. There’s a winner and a loser—and life goes on. For an ungodly amount of Millennials at Arizona State University, Donald Trump’s upset win over Hillary Clinton proved to be traumatizing. In fact, 25 percent of those polled said that Hillary losing was a traumatic episode for them. There are times where my generation is unfairly lambasted for X, Y, and Z, but this game isn’t new. I don’t really care to be quite...

A burgeoning “lost fatherhood” movement has become involved in pro-life activism, with post-abortive men carrying signs at the annual March for Life proclaiming “I Regret Lost Fatherhood.” “Men don’t like to admit they have a problem, but there are a lot of guys out there who are really hurting,” explained Bruce Mulligan, a hospital administrator from Minnesota who struggles with the emotional impact of the abortion of an unplanned pregnancy he and his wife decided to undergo 37 years ago. Dr. Vincent Rue, a psychologist who has long experience with abortion’s effects on men, spoke at a “Reclaiming Fatherhood” conference....

They’re not nuts about Trump. Some 125 psychologists and other mental health professionals marched along lower Broadway Saturday to demand that President Trump be thrown out of office, based on a constitutional clause allowing presidents to be ousted when their cabinets decide they are ” unable to discharge the powers and duties” of their job.

While acknowledging that “people react differently to experiences,” Dr. Loftus also expressed skepticism about the root causes of the “symptoms” - such as PTSD and anxiety issues - Ford claims to have as a result of the assault. Our talk inevitably circled back to the fact that we just “don’t know” so many things about this case. If we knew, for example, how many of the supporters who knew Judge Kavanaugh from his high school days were from the girl’s school Ford attended, we might discover how well Ford likely knew him as well.While acknowledging that “people react differently to...

Elon Musk has escalated his baseless attacks against a British diver, claiming without evidence that the man who helped rescue children from a cave in Thailand was a “child rapist” in an email to a reporter. The embattled Tesla CEO faced widespread backlash in July when he first called the diver Vernon Unsworth a “pedo” in a tweet – an unfounded claim against a man who was part of the international team that freed 12 young footballers and their coach from the Tham Luang cave complex. Musk, who had unsuccessfully attempted to assist the rescue mission, eventually apologized to Unsworth....

A new study out of Harvard—the first randomized controlled experiment designed to examine the effects of trigger warnings on individual resilience—may indicate that Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt were right about trigger warnings.In the fall of 2015, Greg Lukianoff, First Amendment Lawyer and president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (for which I work), and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at NYU’s Stern School of Business, published an article in The Atlantic. In it, they detailed how college campuses may inadvertently promote mental habits identical to the “cognitive distortions” that cognitive behavioral...