In recent years, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has become a hot topic in the military and the media. For many, PTSD conjures up an image of a combat veteran who has returned home with troubles after being exposed to land mines and air raids. Indeed, statistics show that 11-20% of veterans coming back from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. But PTSD is not just a military problem. People who have experienced a life-threatening experience may have PTSD and not even know it. [Read more…]
Dr. Greene’s work featured on WABC-TV
Psychotherapy is more effective today than it was 50 or even 25 years ago. Why? Because of research. In the United States, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies fund clinical trials of specific types of psychotherapy for various problems. One example of such a clinical psychotherapy trial can be seen in the work I have been involved with at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. We conducted [Read more…]
The emotional aspects of cancer
For those who have been diagnosed with cancer, coping with illness can bring unexpected and difficult challenges. Both the treatment for cancer and its aftermath sometimes involve emotional difficulties that can take patients and families by surprise. Some of the therapists at the Manhattan Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy specialize in working with cancer survivors. Dr. Greene, in particular, was involved in a multi-hospital research study investigating how cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can help survivors of leukemia and lymphoma. The study concluded that CBT reduced posttraumatic anxiety and depression for these survivors.
Dr. Greene does ongoing research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine on the psychological difficulties of cancer.
September 11th and anxiety
For those of us who were living in New York or Washington on September 11th, 2001, and for those of us who were otherwise affected by the events of that day, each anniversary of that date can bring its own difficult memories. It is not uncommon for those who were affected by 9/11 to experience an increase in certain unpleasant symptoms on anniversaries of 9/11/01. These can include troubling memories, dreams or nightmares, anxiety, avoidance of reminders of 9/11, feeling emotionally “numb,” depression, or increased alertness (sometimes described as feeling overly “on guard”). These are symptoms of posttraumatic anxiety. For some people, these [Read more…]