Introduction: This thesis evaluated the effectiveness of an educational intervention for Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) employees exposed to a traumatic event at work. Methods: This study used a sequential mixed methods design. The primary outcome was the proportion seeking mental health treatment after an educational intervention (BPI) compared to a group not receiving an educational intervention (TAU). Qualitative interviews aimed to understand what compelled participants to seek help and perceptions of the educational intervention. Results: 60 TAU and 50 BPI participants were recruited. A larger proportion of BPI participants sought specialty mental health treatment compared to the TAU (p=0.034). Reasons for seeking treatment were varied and we found overall positive responses to the educational intervention, particularly normalization of reactions. Conclusions: A greater proportion of those receiving the educational intervention sought help. However, the interviews showed that although the educational intervention was helpful, it was not central to this decision.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder, may develop after experiencing or witnessing a severe traumatic event. Characteristic symptoms include hyper arousal and amnesic symptoms, while volume reductions in the hippocampus of these patients appear correlated with illness severity and the degree of cognitive deficit. Stress-induced increases in plasma cortisol have been implicated in this apparent atrophy of the hippocampus, although, clinical studies have described a marked suppression of plasma cortisol in PTSD. Given this hypocortisolemia, the basis for hippocampal neuro degeneration and cognitive decline remains unclear. While stress-related hippocampal structural changes have been linked to the neurotoxic effects of glucocorticoids and glutamate. NMDA-NO pathways have been found to play a causal role in anxiety-related behaviours. Prior exposure to trauma is an important risk factor for PTSD. In most instances the disorder becomes progressively worse over time, possibly with a delayed onset, suggesting a role for sensitization. In this study a time-dependent sensitization (TDS) model was used to induce PTSD-like sequelae in male Spraque-Dawley rats. The TDS-model is based on exposure to acute stressors, with a reminder of the trauma, in the form of re-exposure to one of the acute stressor, seven days later. NOS-activity, NMDA receptor parameters (Bmax and Kd) and GABA levels in the hippocampus of rats, as well as plasma corticosterone levels were determined 21 days after exposure to the TDS-model. Increased levels of corticosterone were measured after exposure to acute stress, but these levels were found to decrease below basal levels 21 days after the re-exposure, thus mimicking glucocorticoid levels in patients with PTSD. These findings may also imply that the increase in glucocorticoid levels after stress exposure is only the initial step in a cascade of events leading to neuronal damage in the hippocampus. This study also found that stress-restress evoked a long-lasting increase in hippocampal NOS activity that was accompanied by a reactive down-regulation of hippocampal NMDA receptors and dysregulation of inhibitory GABA pathways. Subsequently, animals were chronically treated with certain pharmacological agents prior to exposure to the TDS-model to determine possible approaches for inhibiting the induction of PTSD. Pre-treatment with fluoxetine, currently indicated in the treatment of PTSD. and the nNOS inhibitor, 7-nitroindazole, had no effect on the increased NOS activity measured 21 days afler exposure to the TDS-model. Pre-treatment with the iNOS inhibitor, aminoguanidine, however, resulted in inhibition of the observed increase in hippocampal NOS-activity, implicating a possible role for the iNOS isoform in the etiology of PTSD. Treatment with ketoconazole, an inhibitor of glucoccfticoid synthesis, resulted in inhibition of the increase in NOS-activity observed after exposure to TDS-stress, thus indicating a possible link between stress glucocorticoid-release and NO synthesis. These perturbations may have importance in explaining the increasing evidence for stress-related hippocampal degenerative pathology and cognitive deficits seen in patients with PTSD. Uncovering and understanding the role of NO in PTSD will hopefully lead to the development of selective therapeutic agents in disorders like PTSD. as well as providing a better understanding of basic processes underlying normal and pathological neuronal functions in PTSD. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Pharmacology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

It is well documented that exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) negatively affects children’s developmental outcomes (Chan & Yeung, 2009; Evans, Davies & DiLillo, 2008) and may lead to the expression of symptomatology consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Graham-Bermann, De Voe, Mattis, Lynch & Thomas, 2006; Kilpatrick & Williams,1998). Currently there is no consensus as to the nature of the influence of mother-child relationships on child outcomes such as post-traumatic stress symptoms in IPV-exposed families. The present study examined the role of maternal influences, such as the quality of mother-child interaction, maternal depression, and maternal violence history on sibling trauma outcomes. Results indicated that increased maternal depressive symptoms, maternal violence history, and negative mother-child interactions did not significantly predict post-traumatic stress symptoms in siblings exposed to IPV. Findings provided support for the notion of maternal compensatory strategies used to protect siblings from the detrimental consequences of IPV exposure.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-94). / Microfiche. / vii, 94 leaves, bound 29 cm

This project is an exploration, through art making processes, of a relationship between the interpretation of symbols and the interpretation of everyday life experiences, with a view to evolving a metaphorical visual language that might translate these experiences. Individuation is a process within Jungian psychology that relates the interpretation of symbols to the interpretation of life experiences and places their common meanings within a definitive framework of individual human development. The archetypal pattern that this framework outlines is the development of a healthy relationship between an individual’s consciousness and the unconscious. The word metaphor originates from Greek metapherein – “to carry over, transfer; meta` beyond, over + fe`rein to bring, bear. It is the transference of the relation between one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation… the statement “that man is a fox,” is a metaphor” (Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 2008) Due to its particular relationship to time, space, memory and light photography has proven to be an ideal way to engage, record, and present this exploration. Our personal photographs operate as visual metaphors for our personal experience, we transfer the experience into the photograph, we consider the photograph is that moment in time, that place, that experience, rather than being like that experience. The interpretation of personal photographs is entirely individual and emotional. When photographs are placed into the public arena their emotional value changes, their interpretation, purpose, and authenticity can become questionable. In this project the experience and the photographs are placed within the context of individuation, which is a model that guides the interpretation of the photographs and include the individual and emotional values as a necessary part of that interpretation. In this project the symbols and visual metaphors interpreted in the photographs operate as a narrative of the personal experience of the archetypal journey of individuation.

Bibliography: leaves 385-417. / x, 417 leaves : ill. (some col.), [1] col. map ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Documents and evaluates the experiences and life outcomes of a sample of WW2 veterans against a background of ideas about the neuroses of war, thereby examining the history of medical ideas about the psychological casualties of war, and the history of the lives of participants of war. The medical framework and social context that underpin the construction of war experience is critically examined in this thesis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 2000

This project is an exploration, through art making processes, of a relationship between the interpretation of symbols and the interpretation of everyday life experiences, with a view to evolving a metaphorical visual language that might translate these experiences. Individuation is a process within Jungian psychology that relates the interpretation of symbols to the interpretation of life experiences and places their common meanings within a definitive framework of individual human development. The archetypal pattern that this framework outlines is the development of a healthy relationship between an individual’s consciousness and the unconscious. The word metaphor originates from Greek metapherein – “to carry over, transfer; meta` beyond, over + fe`rein to bring, bear. It is the transference of the relation between one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation… the statement “that man is a fox,” is a metaphor” (Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 2008) Due to its particular relationship to time, space, memory and light photography has proven to be an ideal way to engage, record, and present this exploration. Our personal photographs operate as visual metaphors for our personal experience, we transfer the experience into the photograph, we consider the photograph is that moment in time, that place, that experience, rather than being like that experience. The interpretation of personal photographs is entirely individual and emotional. When photographs are placed into the public arena their emotional value changes, their interpretation, purpose, and authenticity can become questionable. In this project the experience and the photographs are placed within the context of individuation, which is a model that guides the interpretation of the photographs and include the individual and emotional values as a necessary part of that interpretation. In this project the symbols and visual metaphors interpreted in the photographs operate as a narrative of the personal experience of the archetypal journey of individuation.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas, 2007. / "October 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-85) and appendices.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-71). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)(Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references.