mhr4,

What I have been trying to say is, If you are going to make controversial statements, quote a source. I have followed the work done on PCS and PTSD for years. It has been extensively researched at the Bay Pines Veterans Administration Hospital. Robert Thatcher, Ph.D. has been a lead researcher and computerized EEG evaluator and report writer for Traumatic Brain Injured (TBI) patients as part of the Department of Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program (DVHIP).

There are lots of anecdotal comments about PCS and PTSD. As I said before, there can be a big overlap of symptoms between the two. Psychologists tend to claim that their therapies can cure PCS and PTSD. The scientific studies are the proof, not the anecdotal comments.

I have been evaluated many times by different specialties. Few have offered any therapies to improve my condition. Those therapies offered have been limited to the mind exercises I have been doing since 1971.

The therapies for PTSD, as I said, can be very controversial. The issue of importance is the specific symptoms of PTSD. Yes, some symptoms may be readily treatable, others, not so much.

The problem with this tread "Can a life changing injury be linked to PTSD?" is it has no value. PTSD is not treated based on its causation. It is treated for it symptoms. The causation treatment needs to be done prophilactically, at the time of the traumatic stress, not after the PTSD has manifest for weeks or months. It is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because it manifests after the traumatic stress. It is caused by a failure to resolve the traumatic stress in the mind and emotions of the subject in a timely manner.

One of the key problems with sustained symptoms of PCS is the stress the patient brings on themselves as a result of poor evaluation, treatment, and comments from the medical community. There is far too much, "Just relax, it WILL heal over time." Although this may be true for 95+ percent of PCS patients, it only compounds the problems of the long term PCS patient.

Yes, there are some therapies that can be effective as a shotgun approach to PTSD. It depends on the patient, etc.

I just did a fresh search for new articles. It appears that some in the research community are trying to morph PTSD and PCS together. This may be how the claim of treating PTSD results in improvement of PCS. The 'old school' definition of PCS has it standing alone, free from the emotional stresses that accompany PTSD.

The other possibility of improvement may be coincidental or synergistic. Normal life stresses are know to hamper recover from PCS and PTSD. If the patient is treated for the PTSD symptoms, the resultant lowering of life stresses may appear to help with the PCS symptoms. But, simply lowering life stresses can also help PCS in a non-PTSD patient.

It is well understood that PTSD and PCS have a magnifying effect on the symptoms of each. So, does lowering the symptoms of PTSD directly effect the PCS or does it just remove the multiplying factor from the symptoms?

If the PCS symptom level is 10 and after therapy for PTSD, it is only 3, did the PTSD resolve the PCS symptoms? Or would the PCS symptoms have been at a 3 level if the PTSD was not present?

The problem is the poor analysis methodology. I am amazed at the weakness of the methodology in some of the studies. Even more is the 'claims' made anecdotally by alternative therapy adherents. Yes, alternative therapies can be effective, but unless they are properly studied, they are just alternative therapies.

They become main stream therapies when the studies are properly done and published for peer review. QEEG has been studied extensively and been scientifically proven to be a viable diagnostic tool with rehabilitative therapies that also have great track records. But a few articles critical of QEEG have poisoned the field of QEEG so as to keep it out of the mainstream.

PTSD and PCS together have not even been studied until after soldier returning from Iraq reached a 'critical mass' worth studying.

I have had three psychologists say that my PCS symptoms are only stress related. Yet, neither has provided any support to their diagnosis. Four QEEG evaluations have said exactly the opposite. They show physiological injury as the causation of my symptoms. I find it odd that my symptoms match those described back in 1978 by one of the first researchers in PCS yet some physicians and psychologists claim I am just a psych patient.

One of the ways of validating research is the predictive method. If the symptoms can be predicted based on injury and medical history, then the diagnostic conclusions are valid.

In my case, one doctor predicted an increase in symptoms at high altitudes. This was shown to be true because I had to quite flying as a private pilot because I would suffer mental confusion, etc after prolonged times at 8 to 12 thousand feet altitude. The altitude problems manifest 20 years before I learned of the connection to PCS.
Another symptoms predicted is auditory processing. The neurologist told me that my brain gets overloaded with auditory stimuli. He asked how I handle it. He did not know that auditory over-stimulation was one of my worst symptoms as he does not look as the specific symptom complaints before evaluating the test results. This was an perfect example of predictive validation. I could go on but I think you should get the point.

These same predictive methods of validating diagnostic tools and therapies are not presented in many of the anecdotal reports of success.

In my case, I was diagnosed with PTSD (1997 traumatic event) before my most recent head injury (2001) and 18 months after a previous concussion. Most of the PTSD symptoms had been resolved prior to the 2001 injury. Only a few continue. My head injury magnified the few that continued. After some time, they resolved back to the pre-head injury state. Most of my 2001 PCS symptoms have not resolved, even though I have a history of great recoveries from my prior concussions.

My 13 concussions are the memorable concussions. I have had many more that are not so memorable. I can get a concussion riding a roller coaster, driving down a bumpy road, and even shaking my head No. I don't count those as memorable.