MSI Press Blog

  A traumatic brain injury — a TBI — is exactly what it sounds like: the brain is injured by an outside force. A fall, a crash, a blow, a sudden acceleration, or an object that penetrates the skull. It can be mild, moderate, or severe, and those categories matter because they shape everything that comes after: how the brain heals, how the person recovers, and what life looks like going forward. A mild TBI (often called a concussion) is the most common. People may feel foggy, tired, irritable, or off-balance. Most recover fully, though some carry symptoms longer than expected. Moderate TBIs involve longer periods of confusion or unconsciousness and often show up on scans. Recovery can take months. Severe TBIs can mean coma, swelling, bleeding, or widespread damage. Some people survive with significant disabilities. Some do not survive at all. Treatment depends on the seriousness. Mild injuries need rest and monitoring. Moderate and severe injuries are medical emergencies: stabili...

  A HERO'S SUICIDE   b y Joanna J. Charnas   This following essay was written in 2017 but has not been previously published.   Earlier this week I learned that one of my former patients killed himself. I’m devastated and can’t stop thinking about him. His name was Ryan Larkin.   Ryan was a Navy SEAL. He completed four tours of duty, two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan as a corpsman. Ryan arrived at the inpatient psychiatry ward of the hospital that employs me four weeks prior to discharging from the Navy, and he remained with us for a month.   While he was in our care, I became concerned about Ryan’s treatment. His attending psychiatrist was a skilled and caring provider, but the other players in the larger mental health system seemed mostly fearful of Ryan. Fear is not an optimal state in which to deliver care. My colleagues repeatedly expressed concern about his opioid use and labeled him “drug seeking.” In 2016 the country had a new awareness of the burge...

  Excerpt from   Heart to Heart Resuscitation: My Journal  by Victor Montgomery III --   Introduction My memoirs give straightforward, down-to-earth advice about encouragement and hope. While revitalizing the therapeutic approach used to overcome the combat veterans’ immediate life-threatening darkness of depression and suicidal thoughts, I define my unique tried-and-true method of crisis intervention as a matter of “heart-to-heart resuscitation”, as I call it. The window of opportunity to make a difference for you or someone close to you can literally be a matter of seconds, whether over a telephone or face-to-face your, your loved ones or your friend’s life may hang in the balance. The process of heart-to-heart communicating is one I suggest and utilize. I believe through encouraging, motivating and mentoring, suffering veterans can be helped to find the strength, self-determination, and support to get help and out of danger. My number one priority is to get vete...