Posted on Apr 25, 2015
SSgt Timothy Test
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MAJ Ken Landgren
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I can see synergy if the NFL and the Military collaborate on TBI.
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COL Ted Mc
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Very interesting article and well thought out.

Could I suggest a "mirror study" where he first question to be answered is whether individuals who are stressed are more susceptible to higher perceived pain levels - whether associated with traumatic brain injury or not?

There's no money or academic glory in it for me, but I have a suspicion that a properly conducted study would find that people who are under stress suffer more severe sequalae than do people who are not under stress - regardless of initial cause - and that the (what I'll call the ) "Victim Effect" (where the subject is reinforced in how serious what happened to them was and how terrible the long-term effects are going to be) kicks in and produces a higher level of negative consequences than if the subject hadn't had their own fears magnified (or, in come cases, created by the "helpers").

In other words, people who expect to get well get well faster (regardless of what we do to/for them) and people who expect to die have a real tendency to do so.
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SSgt Timothy Test
SSgt Timothy Test
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Actually, there has been quite a bit of research done in this very area. It would be good to recreate on of these studies. I would tend to agree with you in that perceptions play a major role in how they respond to a situation. There are a lot of variables at play here, external vs. internal locus of control, self-fulfilling prophecy, etc. If you want to jump on board and do a study together, let me know!
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COL Ted Mc
COL Ted Mc
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SSgt Timothy Test - Staff; I'd love to do a joint study with you.

Unfortunately the subject is WAAAAAAY outside my fields of "academic expertise" and I no longer have direct contact with my former associates who might be able to assist.

AS your field is Psychoneuroimmunology you should be well aware that there is more to the old theories of "the mind can control the body" than mainstream medicine likes to let on. This isn't to say that the old theories are 100% correct or that everyone can take advantage of them - just that they aren't the total codswallop that they have been made out to be. [No, I don't think that you can make yourself bulletproof just by thinking positive thoughts - that's a total perversion of what the old theories actually say.] - On the other hand, I have seen a perfectly healthy person die simply because they made up their mind that they were going to do so.

I was listening to a program about the "Placebo Effect" recently and your article got me to wondering if "self-induced disease" (read as "physical/mental conditions arising in response to a stimulus but aggravated by inherent/learned personal traits") could be treated with "self-induced agents" (read as "things that the patient JUST KNOWS are going to be successful in relieving their condition") with any degree of reliability when the "treatment provider" believed that the treatment would not work.

[An example given on the program was of an anthropologist (I think) who learned what the "Shamans" did to cure disease and copied it. The anthropologist knew that there was no reason why the treatment SHOULD work, but found that it DID work - as long as the patient had confidence that it would work. NOTE - The anthropologist did NOT believe that the treatment would NOT work - only that there was no reason (that they knew of) why it SHOULD work.]

The "You couldn't possibly do that." - "But I just did it." - I know, but you couldn't possibly do that." dialogue has always fascinated me.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
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Surely we should have the technology to x-ray the route for IEDs.
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