Emotional Blackmail- When subjected to emotional blackmail, we become the other's emotional hostage

Veteran Loses Battle With Depression After Helping Others With Their Own
By JAMES DAO
April 15, 2011, 10:14 am
--NYtimes.com--

It was mid-January, 2010, just days after a powerful earthquake had reduced much of Haiti to rubble. Jake Wood, a former Marine and now the head of an international aid organization called Team Rubicon, arrived in Port-au-Prince with a group of volunteers to provide emergency medical care.

Out of the blue, an old friend, Clay Hunt, showed up. Mr. Hunt and Mr. Wood had served together in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Marine Corps and were almost brothers. Mr. Hunt had found them using a day-old GPS coordinate posted on Team Rubicon’s Web site. Minutes after arriving, he was helping to splint a patient’s leg.



“He couldn’t stand that we were down there and he wasn’t,” Mr. Wood said. “That was Clay.”

Mr. Hunt had battled depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in the year since he left the Marines, but volunteering with Team Rubicon and veterans organizations like Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America seemed to have given him a new sense of purpose.

And yet it was not enough. On March 31, Mr. Hunt committed suicide in his apartment in Sugar Land, Tex. He was 28.

News of Mr. Hunt’s death has ricocheted through the veterans’ world as a grim reminder of the emotional and psychological strains of war — and of the government’s inability to stem military and veteran suicides, which have climbed steadily in the decade since the 9/11 attacks.

“The message I’ve been trying to convey to people is that if this can happen to Clay Hunt, it can happen to anyone,” said Paul Rieckhoff, the president and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “He was involved. He had a supportive family. He was going to the V.A. He was doing the right things. And it still happened.”

According to a profile in the Houston Chronicle, Mr. Hunt grew up in Houston and attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles before joining the Marine Corps in 2005. He deployed to Iraq’s Anbar Province in January 2007 as part of the Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment.

Within weeks, several friends of his were killed, and then Mr. Hunt himself was shot through the wrist by a sniper, Mr. Wood said in an interview. He had to be medically evacuated, ending his deployment early. Back home, he felt anguish at not being in Iraq with his unit, Mr. Wood said.

When the battalion returned in late 2007, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Wood joined the sniper platoon and were deployed to Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan the next year. During that deployment, at least two more friends of theirs from their former platoon were killed.

After returning home from that second deployment, Mr. Hunt got married. But he was already struggling with depression and what doctors diagnosed as P.T.S.D., Mr. Wood said.

“There were a lot of reasons,” Mr. Wood said. “Survivor’s guilt. Struggling with not knowing why guys had been lost for, what we were trying to accomplish, what we had accomplished. He carried that burden.”

He returned to Loyola Marymount, but felt adrift and unappreciated, Mr. Wood said. Then he began throwing himself into volunteer work.

He built bikes for Ride 2 Recovery, a rehabilitation program for injured veterans, went to Haiti and Chile with Team Rubicon and helped organize events for I.A.V.A. He even appeared in this well-received public service announcement by I.A.V.A. and the Ad Council encouraging veterans to seek help for mental health problems.


“Whenever we were doing an event on the West Coast, he put his hand up and said, ‘I want to help,’” Mr. Rieckhoff said.

But then came a series of troubles. His marriage began to crumble in the summer of 2010, Mr. Wood said. He quit college, and a full-time position at a refugee camp in Haiti fell through. He stopped taking his medications. By December, he showed up at Mr. Wood’s door looking for help.

“He had hit rock bottom,” Mr. Wood said.

Mr. Wood convinced him to seek help, and he did. He started going to a veterans’ clinic, returned to Houston, found work and started dating. He even discussed re-enlisting in the Marine Corps.

“I told him the structure would be good, and the pride would be good for him,” Mr. Wood said. It was the last time the two men spoke, just weeks before Mr. Hunt killed himself.

No one, of course, could say exactly what went wrong. Perhaps it was his failed marriage. Perhaps it was frustration with the government for rejecting his petition to increase his disability rating. Perhaps he still felt guilt that his friends had died while he had not.

“He had a big heart, with a high opinion of what the world should be,” Mr. Wood said. “But he was always disappointed about how petty and selfish the world was. For everything he did to try to make the world better, he didn’t see improvements.

“He couldn’t handle the disappointment of not being able to effect change.” More than 1,100 people showed up for Mr. Hunt’s funeral in Texas.

His family requested that memorial contributions in his name be directed to:

Team Rubicon, Inc.
P.O. Box 7476
Santa Monica, CA 90406

or

Ride 2 Recovery
23679 Calabasas Rd., #420
Calabasas, CA 91302

A thing that is infinite and eternal hath no qualities, since it hath all qualities.

-- C.G. Jung, Seven Sermons of the Dead

Activation of Striatal Dopamine Receptors by Psychostimulants: Chemical Anatomy, Autonomic and Behavioural Effects
Vol. 52, No. 3, Aug, 2005 Danish Medical Bulletin

Author E-mail : pedro@pet.auh.dk
Author(s) : Pedro Rosa Neto
Author Address : Building 10, Aarhus University Hospital, Noerrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Keyword(s) : Psychostimulants;Striatal Dopamine;Behavioural Effects;Anatomy;Dopamine Receptors;Radioligands;D-amphetamine;Butyrophenones
Abstract

Pharmacological activation of dopamine neurotransmission can be
assessed by Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies of changes in the binding
of radioligands for dopamine D 2 receptors. The present
thesis focuses on the use of this activation method to study receptor mapping,
receptor pharmacology and behavioural aspects related to perturbation of
dopamine neurotransmission in humans and animal models.


This thesis first describes the use of
PET to map the distributions of dopamine D 2/3 and D 1 receptors in pigs and in monkeys, frequently used models for
dopamine activation studies. As in humans, pigs and monkeys had a negative
rostro-caudal gradient in the t -maps calculated from
the statistical contrast between the normalized binding maps for D 1 and D 2/3 receptors. A positive
rostro-caudal gradient for D 2/3 binding was observed
only in monkeys. These results suggest a relative predominance of D 1 over D 2/3 receptors in the limbic
striatum in mammals. In monkeys, D 2/3 receptors were
more predominant in the motor striatum; the apparent lack of gradients in 11 C-raclopride binding in pig striatum might be attributed to
their less sophisticated associative and motor circuits as compared to primates.

The effects of the psychostimulant
3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA, "Ecstasy") on cerebral blood flow
(CBF) and dopamine receptor availability were tested. Unlike most previous
studies of d-amphetamine, MDMA evoked a progressive decline of butyrophenone
( 11 C-NMSP) binding. MDMA-evoked hyperthermia correlated
with increased CBF brain structures linked to central regulation of body
temperature. These results suggest that the co-release of dopamine and serotonin
by MDMA may influence the patterns of binding changes in living striatum.

ADHD is a highly prevalent pediatric
neuropsychiatric disorder which is presently treated with psychostimulants. The
effects of methylphenidate (0.3 mg/kg, p.o.) on the binding of 11 C-raclopride was measured by PET in
nine young ADHD patients. There was a negative correlation between the magnitude
of methylphenidate-evoked decline in 11 C-raclopride
binding and the severity of inattention and impulsivity, measured by a
continuous performance test. Thus, the dopamine activation paradigm was
successfully used as a tool to link behavioural disturbance with reduced
dopamine neurotransmission in patients with ADHD.

Together, these findings highlight PET
as a method for linking behavioural, autonomic and pharmacological aspects of
dopaminergic activation with segregated striatal circuits. (more at Psych Central...)

The Human Amygdala and the Induction and Experience of Fear
Current Biology, 16 December 2010
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
10.1016/j.cub.2010.11.042

Authors
Justin S. Feinstein, Ralph Adolphs, Antonio Damasio, Daniel TranelSee Affiliations

Highlights

-Case study of patient SM, a rare human patient with focal bilateral amygdala lesions
-First investigation of the induction and experience of fear in such a patient
-SM failed to exhibit fear behaviors, and her fear experience was highly impoverished
-The human amygdala plays a pivotal role in triggering a state of fear

Summary

Although clinical observations suggest that humans with amygdala damage have abnormal fear reactions and a reduced experience of fear [1,2,3], these impressions have not been systematically investigated. To address this gap, we conducted a new study in a rare human patient, SM, who has focal bilateral amygdala lesions [4]. To provoke fear in SM, we exposed her to live snakes and spiders, took her on a tour of a haunted house, and showed her emotionally evocative films. On no occasion did SM exhibit fear, and she never endorsed feeling more than minimal levels of fear. Likewise, across a large battery of self-report questionnaires, 3 months of real-life experience sampling, and a life history replete with traumatic events, SM repeatedly demonstrated an absence of overt fear manifestations and an overall impoverished experience of fear. Despite her lack of fear, SM is able to exhibit other basic emotions and experience the respective feelings. The findings support the conclusion that the human amygdala plays a pivotal role in triggering a state of fear and that the absence of such a state precludes the experience of fear itself. (cont...)

-Urbach-Wiethe disease
-Article on Wired about lack of fear contributed to loss of amygdala function

A proposal to classify happiness as a psychiatric disorder.
Bentall RP. J Med Ethics. 1992 Jun;18(2):94-8.

Department of Clinical Psychology, Liverpool University.
Abstract
It is proposed that happiness be classified as a psychiatric disorder and be included in future editions of the major diagnostic manuals under the new name: major affective disorder, pleasant type. In a review of the relevant literature it is shown that happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discrete cluster of symptoms, is associated with a range of cognitive abnormalities, and probably reflects the abnormal functioning of the central nervous system. One possible objection to this proposal remains--that happiness is not negatively valued. However, this objection is dismissed as scientifically irrelevant.
(cont...)

Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1999 Dec;77(6):1121-34.
Kruger J, Dunning D.
Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-7601, USA. jkruger@s.psych.uiuc.edu

Abstract
People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.

Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?
Adams HE, Wright LW Jr, Lohr BA.
Abnorm Psychol. 1996 Aug;105(3):440-5.

Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3013, USA.
Abstract
The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.

PMID: 8772014 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (cont...)