In a heartbreaking Hollywood news update, pop star Lady Gaga recently revealed that she suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) for several years after being raped at the age of 19.

In a heartbreaking Hollywood news update, pop star Lady Gaga recently revealed that she suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) for several years after being raped at the age of 19. Lady Gaga who is known for her soulful music and lyrics that touches hearts worldwide was a victim of PTSD in her early years after she was violated at a tender age. She sat down with chat show star Oprah Winfrey and revealed myths around mental health and her often questioned equation with good friend and co-star Bradley Cooper, with whom she was linked to after they worked together in ‘A Star Is Born’ after they made rounds together last year at almost all awards show including Golden Globes, BAFTA, Oscars, Grammy and more. Oprah Winfrey recently kickstarted ‘Oprah 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus’ with Lady Gaga in Florida as the latter opened up majorly about mental health. Not one to mince words or shy from telling the truth, Lady Gaga opened up about PTSD as a result of being raped. View this post on Instagram Fort Lauderdale, thank you for your warmth and fantastic generosity. And @ladygaga: Your willingness to ‘go there’ with your vulnerability opened all our hearts today. Watch our full interview this Wednesday 1/8 on @ww.now’s IGTV. #BigBiteOfBravery A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on Jan 5, 2020 at 8:08am PST × Lady Gaga was heard saying, “I developed PTSD as a result of being raped and also not processing that trauma. I all of a sudden became a star and was traveling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it, and then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped.” View this post on Instagram Ft.Lauderdale my heart got expanded by this experience with you all. Thanks for doing the work of committing to a higher way of seeing the world. #Oprahs2020VisionTour @ww.now A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on Jan 6, 2020 at 5:21pm PST × Apart from this, Lady Gaga also opened up about suffering from fibromyalgia, a condition in which a person suffers from widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. The singer-actress treated the condition with medication and therapy for some time and then let it be. She also tried her hands with antipsychotic medication, which helped her to a great extent. Lady Gaga, however, admitted that she would “spiral very frequently” without medication. She said, "Medicine really helped me. A lot of people are afraid of medicine for their brains to help them. I really want to erase the stigma around this.” View this post on Instagram Last night’s look in @hauslabs 🌸 Wearing Glam Room Palette No. 1: FAME (Spotlight & Applause), EYE-LIE-NER in Punk, RIP LIP LINER in Myth & LE RIOT LIP GLOSS in Ethereal ✨ A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Dec 17, 2019 at 7:32pm PST ×

'I developed PTSD as a result of being raped', reveals Lady Gaga in heartbreaking interview to Oprah Winfrey

A second student from the Florida high school where 17 were shot dead in 2018 has committed suicide within a week, US media reported Sunday.

The Miami Herald said police in Coral Springs told the paper that a current student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland had died of "apparent suicide" late Saturday.&nbsp;

The student was not identified by the police but the Miami Herald said it was a male sophomore or second-year student.

Coral Springs police could not be immediately contacted to confirm the report.

Last weekend Sydney Aiello, 19, who survived the Parkland massacre and graduated last year, killed herself reportedly out of grief and "survivor's guilt."

Two of Aiello's best friends, Meadow Pollack and Joaquin Oliver, were among the dead when former student Nikolas Cruz raked the school on February 14, 2018, with a semi-automatic weapon, killing 14 students and three staff members.

Aiello's parents told local news channel CBS4 that she had been treated for PTSD and suffered from survivor's guilt when a victim fixates on why he or she managed to live, not someone else.

After the shooting, Stoneman Douglas students became crusaders against gun violence under the banner "March for Our Lives," lobbying for tougher gun control laws and organizing protests and rallies.

A second student from the Florida high school where 17 were shot dead in 2018 has committed suicide within a week, US media reported Sunday. The Miami Herald said police in Coral Springs told the paper that a current student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland had died of "apparent suicide" late Saturday.

A second student from the Florida high school where 17 were shot dead in 2018 has committed suicide within a week, US media reported Sunday. The Miami Herald said police in Coral Springs told the paper that a current student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland had died of "apparent suicide" late Saturday. The student was not identified by the police but the Miami Herald said it was a male sophomore or second-year student. Coral Springs police could not be immediately contacted to confirm the report. Last weekend Sydney Aiello, 19, who survived the Parkland massacre and graduated last year, killed herself reportedly out of grief and "survivor's guilt." Two of Aiello's best friends, Meadow Pollack and Joaquin Oliver, were among the dead when former student Nikolas Cruz raked the school on February 14, 2018, with a semi-automatic weapon, killing 14 students and three staff members. Aiello's parents told local news channel CBS4 that she had been treated for PTSD and suffered from survivor's guilt when a victim fixates on why he or she managed to live, not someone else. After the shooting, Stoneman Douglas students became crusaders against gun violence under the banner "March for Our Lives," lobbying for tougher gun control laws and organizing protests and rallies.

Second student suicide from Florida massacre school reported

Social media giant and already under scanner for various reasons, Facebook has been faced with another lawsuit filed by its own employee alleging that content moderators who face mental trauma after reviewing distressing images on the platform are not being properly protected by the company.

According to the filed lawsuit, Facebook moderators under contract are "bombarded" with "thousands of videos, images and live-streamed broadcasts of child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, beheadings, suicide and murder" and alleges negligence and failure to maintain a safe workplace.

"Facebook is ignoring its duty to provide a safe workplace and instead creating a revolving door of contractors who are irreparably traumatized by what they witnessed on the job," Korey Nelson, a lawyer for former Facebook contract employee Selena Scola, said in a statement on Monday.

According to report, the lawyer of the plaintiff has asked Facebook in the lawsuit to set up a medical monitoring fund to provide testing and care to content moderators with PTSD and also take care of the people that have already been traumatized.

Nelson's firm is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.

Scola worked at Facebook's offices in Menlo Park and Mountain View, California, for nine months from June last year, under a contract through Pro Unlimited Inc, a Florida-based staffing company.

The case is Scola v Facebook Inc and Pro Unlimited Inc, No. 18 CIV0513, filed in Superior Court of the State of California.

(With inputs from agencies)

Social media giant and already under scanner for various reasons, Facebook has been faced with another lawsuit filed by its own employee alleging that content moderators who face mental trauma after reviewing distressing images on the platform are not being properly protected by the company.

Social media giant and already under scanner for various reasons, Facebook has been faced with another lawsuit filed by its own employee alleging that content moderators who face mental trauma after reviewing distressing images on the platform are not being properly protected by the company. According to the filed lawsuit, Facebook moderators under contract are "bombarded" with "thousands of videos, images and live-streamed broadcasts of child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, beheadings, suicide and murder" and alleges negligence and failure to maintain a safe workplace. "Facebook is ignoring its duty to provide a safe workplace and instead creating a revolving door of contractors who are irreparably traumatized by what they witnessed on the job," Korey Nelson, a lawyer for former Facebook contract employee Selena Scola, said in a statement on Monday. According to report, the lawyer of the plaintiff has asked Facebook in the lawsuit to set up a medical monitoring fund to provide testing and care to content moderators with PTSD and also take care of the people that have already been traumatized. Nelson's firm is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit. Scola worked at Facebook's offices in Menlo Park and Mountain View, California, for nine months from June last year, under a contract through Pro Unlimited Inc, a Florida-based staffing company. The case is Scola v Facebook Inc and Pro Unlimited Inc, No. 18 CIV0513, filed in Superior Court of the State of California. (With inputs from agencies)

Facebook not protecting content moderators from mental trauma: lawsuit

A common antibiotic called doxycycline can disrupt the formation of negative thoughts and fears in the brain and may prove useful in treating or preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research by British and Swiss scientists.

In a specially designed trial involving 76 healthy volunteers who were given either the drug or a placebo dummy pill, those who were on doxycycline had a 60 percent lower fear response than those who were not.

Scientists said the antibiotic works in this way because it blocks certain proteins outside nerve cells, called matrix enzymes, which our brains need to form memories.

&quot;We have demonstrated a proof-of-principle for an entirely new treatment strategy for PTSD,&quot; said Dominik Bach, a professor at University College London and the University of Zurich, who co-led the research team.

In the trial, volunteers were given either doxycycline or a placebo and put in front of a computer. The screen would flash either blue or red, and one of the colours was associated with a 50 percent chance of getting a painful electric shock. After 160 flashes with colours in random order, participants learnt to associate the &#39;bad&#39; colour with the shock.

A week later, under no medication, the volunteers repeated the experiment. This time there were no electric shocks, but a loud sound played after either colour was shown.

Fear responses were measured by tracking eye blinks, as this is an instinctive response to sudden threats. The fear memory was calculated by subtracting the baseline startle response &ndash; to the sound on the &#39;good&#39; colour &ndash; from the response to the sound when the &#39;bad&#39; colour was showing.

While the fear response was 60 percent lower in those who had doxycycline in the first session, the researchers found that, importantly, other cognitive measures - including sensory memory and attention - were not affected.

&quot;When we talk about reducing fear memory, we&#39;re not talking about deleting the memory of what actually happened,&quot; Bach said in a statement about the findings.

&quot;The participants may not forget that they received a shock when the screen was red, but they &#39;forget&#39; to be instinctively scared when they next see a red screen.

&quot;Learning to fear threats is an important ability ... helping us to avoid dangers. (But) over-prediction of threat can cause tremendous suffering and distress in anxiety disorders such as PTSD.&quot;

PTSD is caused by an overactive fear memory and includes a broad range of psychological symptoms that can develop after someone goes through a traumatic event.

Bach said he and his team would now like to explore doxycycline&#39;s potential effects further, including in a phenomenon called &quot;reconsolidation&quot; of fear memories - an approach to helping people with PTSD - in which memories and associations can be changed after an event when the patient experiences or imagines similar situations.

(Reuters)

It blocks certain proteins outside nerve cells, called matrix enzymes, which our brains need to form memories

A common antibiotic called doxycycline can disrupt the formation of negative thoughts and fears in the brain and may prove useful in treating or preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research by British and Swiss scientists. In a specially designed trial involving 76 healthy volunteers who were given either the drug or a placebo dummy pill, those who were on doxycycline had a 60 percent lower fear response than those who were not. Scientists said the antibiotic works in this way because it blocks certain proteins outside nerve cells, called matrix enzymes, which our brains need to form memories. "We have demonstrated a proof-of-principle for an entirely new treatment strategy for PTSD," said Dominik Bach, a professor at University College London and the University of Zurich, who co-led the research team. In the trial, volunteers were given either doxycycline or a placebo and put in front of a computer. The screen would flash either blue or red, and one of the colours was associated with a 50 percent chance of getting a painful electric shock. After 160 flashes with colours in random order, participants learnt to associate the 'bad' colour with the shock. A week later, under no medication, the volunteers repeated the experiment. This time there were no electric shocks, but a loud sound played after either colour was shown. Fear responses were measured by tracking eye blinks, as this is an instinctive response to sudden threats. The fear memory was calculated by subtracting the baseline startle response – to the sound on the 'good' colour – from the response to the sound when the 'bad' colour was showing. While the fear response was 60 percent lower in those who had doxycycline in the first session, the researchers found that, importantly, other cognitive measures - including sensory memory and attention - were not affected. "When we talk about reducing fear memory, we're not talking about deleting the memory of what actually happened," Bach said in a statement about the findings. "The participants may not forget that they received a shock when the screen was red, but they 'forget' to be instinctively scared when they next see a red screen. "Learning to fear threats is an important ability ... helping us to avoid dangers. (But) over-prediction of threat can cause tremendous suffering and distress in anxiety disorders such as PTSD." PTSD is caused by an overactive fear memory and includes a broad range of psychological symptoms that can develop after someone goes through a traumatic event. Bach said he and his team would now like to explore doxycycline's potential effects further, including in a phenomenon called "reconsolidation" of fear memories - an approach to helping people with PTSD - in which memories and associations can be changed after an event when the patient experiences or imagines similar situations. (Reuters)

Scientists find common antibiotic could prevent or treat PTSD

The killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani, was followed by a mass, public outpouring of emotion in Kashmir &ndash; some two lakh people reportedly attended his funeral.&nbsp; 
 
In other parts of India, it was followed by a more blunt cause-and-effect reasoning. &quot;He was a terrorist and he got what was coming to him,&quot; people said. The most indelicate example of that, arguably, was a letter posted on Facebook and widely circulated on social media by a Major Gaurav Arya.&nbsp; 
 
Arya ended his letter saying: &ldquo;When you choose to fight against the Indian Army, know this; THEY WILL KILL YOU. Your supporters now want blood. So be it.&rdquo; 
 
Arya&rsquo;s war cry was answered by a more sober letter by a young Kashmiri male, Wasim Khan, living in Mumbai. In his letter, Wasim talked about growing up in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;When the army in Srinagar beat me up for the first time I was 10 years old. Ask me why, and I&rsquo;ll tell you I don&rsquo;t know. I seriously don&rsquo;t. I was just walking on the road and a soldier decided to frisk me then slap me and then he and his fellow mighty warriors together kicked me,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; 
 
The second time he was beaten up by the BSF, he says, he was still 10 years old. The third time he was beaten up, he says, he was still 10 years old and &ldquo;then next fifteen sixteen times I was beaten up I was STILL 10 years old.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
One might imagine Wasim was an especially truculent child, prone to upsetting people in authority. But talk to young Kashmiri men on the street, and they all seem to have the exact same story to tell.&nbsp; 
 
Arbaaz, 28, says he was going to math tuition in an autorickshaw back when he was in Class VIII when he was stopped by the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force).&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;They asked me for my ID which I showed them.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Why are your hands in your pockets?&rdquo; the policeman asked him. &ldquo;Do you stand like that in front of your father?&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;My father&rsquo;s not here right now,&rdquo; said Arbaaz.&nbsp; 
 
Slap.&nbsp; 
 
The slap was followed by a beating, until the auto driver intervened. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a child. Let him go.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
The policeman began beating the auto driver.&nbsp; 
 
The beating stopped after a bit and Arbaaz was walking away from the scene when another policeman appeared.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;What happened?&rdquo; he asked.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Arrey dekho yaar,&nbsp;they beat us up for no reason,&rdquo; said Arbaaz.&nbsp; 
 
Slap.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Yaar? Do I look like your yaar?&rdquo; the second policeman asked, and another beating ensued.&nbsp; 
 
Sameer, 27, was beaten on his way back from tuition class. He was stopped by personnel from the Border Security Force, who asked for his ID and his age.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;87,&rdquo; Sameer said, meaning he was born in 1987.&nbsp; 
 
Slap.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;87!&rdquo; the BSF man said, &ldquo;Even my father is not that old.&rdquo; And a beating followed.&nbsp; 
 
Azgar, 28, says he and two friends had gone bathing near an army camp when a soldier walked up to them. They were in class VIII. 
 
First he began to poke them in their posteriors with a stick, after which he said &ldquo;murga bano.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
They thought he was joking, but he insisted. A beating followed.&nbsp; 
 
They pleaded to be let off, saying they were children. That they had made a mistake and that they were sorry. The soldier said two of them could go but the third &ndash; &ldquo;The one that is fat&rdquo; &ndash; would have to remain.&nbsp; 
 
Azgar and his friend left. After walking a little, the boys said that should something happen to their friend, his parents would beat them. And that it would be better to go back.&nbsp; 
 
When they got back, they found the soldier poking a stick into their friend&rsquo;s protruding belly.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Was that the first time you were beaten?&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;No. When did I say that was the first time?&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
None of these stories should be in the least bit funny, but the Kashmiri men telling them laugh and joke as they go about their storytelling. &ldquo;The funniest bit&nbsp;is you go home thinking you&rsquo;ll get some sympathy from your parents and they beat you too, saying &lsquo;Why did you go out?&rsquo;&rdquo;&nbsp;says Arbaaz. 
 
A lot less funnily, a 2015 Medecines Sans Frontiers (MSF) report says 45% of the adult population in Kashmir shows symptoms of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).&nbsp; 
 
The report reads: &ldquo;Fifty per cent of women and 37 per cent of men have probable depression, 36 per cent of women and 21 per cent of men have a probable anxiety disorder, and 22 per cent of women and 18 per cent of men have probable PTSD.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
That shows up in strange ways on the street. One man will not make eye contact, talk to another and take a step forward &ndash; because what he&rsquo;s saying is interesting &ndash; and he will take two steps back. Take another step forward, and he will take another two back. This goes on until it becomes unnerving.&nbsp; 
 
Dr Mushtaq Margoob, retired professor and head of the department of psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Kashmir, and chairman, Disaster Task Force, Indian Psychiatric Society, says this is a &ldquo;man-made disaster and that you see feelings of anger and helplessness amongst the (Kashmiri) people.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
A senior army officer, who spoke to WION on the condition of anonymity, tries to put the seemingly everyday violence into context. &ldquo;We were a very unprepared army, we were a very unprepared police force when we came here in 1989. And between 1984 and &rsquo;87 there was a lot happening elsewhere that was taking our attention away from Kashmir.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Back then we were trying to stop the loss of territory and when an army is doing that, it will be unmindful of people&rsquo;s rights. It will use hard power, rather than soft power. But when things settle down, they have to balance out their use of hard power and soft power.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
He also mentions the checkpoints that Arbaaz, Sameer, and Azgar were stopped at and beaten. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re humiliating,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But the army changed that when we began to do sadbhavana (goodwill) &rsquo;97 onwards. Which is why you won&rsquo;t hear these stories about the army after &rsquo;97.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
Azgar disagrees. They themselves, with age and experience, have learnt how to get around the beatings. &ldquo;If an army or a CRPF man stops me, I always talk to him in Punjabi,&rdquo; says Sameer.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;But it still happens,&rdquo; says Azgar.&nbsp; 
 
(WION) 
&nbsp;

A Medecines Sans Frontiers report says 45% of the adult population in Kashmir shows symptoms of anxiety, depression, or PTSD

The killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani, was followed by a mass, public outpouring of emotion in Kashmir – some two lakh people reportedly attended his funeral. In other parts of India, it was followed by a more blunt cause-and-effect reasoning. "He was a terrorist and he got what was coming to him," people said. The most indelicate example of that, arguably, was a letter posted on Facebook and widely circulated on social media by a Major Gaurav Arya. Arya ended his letter saying: “When you choose to fight against the Indian Army, know this; THEY WILL KILL YOU. Your supporters now want blood. So be it.” Arya’s war cry was answered by a more sober letter by a young Kashmiri male, Wasim Khan, living in Mumbai. In his letter, Wasim talked about growing up in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. “When the army in Srinagar beat me up for the first time I was 10 years old. Ask me why, and I’ll tell you I don’t know. I seriously don’t. I was just walking on the road and a soldier decided to frisk me then slap me and then he and his fellow mighty warriors together kicked me,” he said. The second time he was beaten up by the BSF, he says, he was still 10 years old. The third time he was beaten up, he says, he was still 10 years old and “then next fifteen sixteen times I was beaten up I was STILL 10 years old.” One might imagine Wasim was an especially truculent child, prone to upsetting people in authority. But talk to young Kashmiri men on the street, and they all seem to have the exact same story to tell. Arbaaz, 28, says he was going to math tuition in an autorickshaw back when he was in Class VIII when he was stopped by the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). “They asked me for my ID which I showed them.” “Why are your hands in your pockets?” the policeman asked him. “Do you stand like that in front of your father?” “My father’s not here right now,” said Arbaaz. Slap. The slap was followed by a beating, until the auto driver intervened. “He’s a child. Let him go.” The policeman began beating the auto driver. The beating stopped after a bit and Arbaaz was walking away from the scene when another policeman appeared. “What happened?” he asked. “Arrey dekho yaar, they beat us up for no reason,” said Arbaaz. Slap. “Yaar? Do I look like your yaar?” the second policeman asked, and another beating ensued. Sameer, 27, was beaten on his way back from tuition class. He was stopped by personnel from the Border Security Force, who asked for his ID and his age. “87,” Sameer said, meaning he was born in 1987. Slap. “87!” the BSF man said, “Even my father is not that old.” And a beating followed. Azgar, 28, says he and two friends had gone bathing near an army camp when a soldier walked up to them. They were in class VIII. First he began to poke them in their posteriors with a stick, after which he said “murga bano.” They thought he was joking, but he insisted. A beating followed. They pleaded to be let off, saying they were children. That they had made a mistake and that they were sorry. The soldier said two of them could go but the third – “The one that is fat” – would have to remain. Azgar and his friend left. After walking a little, the boys said that should something happen to their friend, his parents would beat them. And that it would be better to go back. When they got back, they found the soldier poking a stick into their friend’s protruding belly. “Was that the first time you were beaten?” “No. When did I say that was the first time?” None of these stories should be in the least bit funny, but the Kashmiri men telling them laugh and joke as they go about their storytelling. “The funniest bit is you go home thinking you’ll get some sympathy from your parents and they beat you too, saying ‘Why did you go out?’” says Arbaaz. A lot less funnily, a 2015 Medecines Sans Frontiers (MSF) report says 45% of the adult population in Kashmir shows symptoms of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The report reads: “Fifty per cent of women and 37 per cent of men have probable depression, 36 per cent of women and 21 per cent of men have a probable anxiety disorder, and 22 per cent of women and 18 per cent of men have probable PTSD.” That shows up in strange ways on the street. One man will not make eye contact, talk to another and take a step forward – because what he’s saying is interesting – and he will take two steps back. Take another step forward, and he will take another two back. This goes on until it becomes unnerving. Dr Mushtaq Margoob, retired professor and head of the department of psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Kashmir, and chairman, Disaster Task Force, Indian Psychiatric Society, says this is a “man-made disaster and that you see feelings of anger and helplessness amongst the (Kashmiri) people.” A senior army officer, who spoke to WION on the condition of anonymity, tries to put the seemingly everyday violence into context. “We were a very unprepared army, we were a very unprepared police force when we came here in 1989. And between 1984 and ’87 there was a lot happening elsewhere that was taking our attention away from Kashmir. “Back then we were trying to stop the loss of territory and when an army is doing that, it will be unmindful of people’s rights. It will use hard power, rather than soft power. But when things settle down, they have to balance out their use of hard power and soft power.” He also mentions the checkpoints that Arbaaz, Sameer, and Azgar were stopped at and beaten. “They’re humiliating,” he says. “But the army changed that when we began to do sadbhavana (goodwill) ’97 onwards. Which is why you won’t hear these stories about the army after ’97.” Azgar disagrees. They themselves, with age and experience, have learnt how to get around the beatings. “If an army or a CRPF man stops me, I always talk to him in Punjabi,” says Sameer. “But it still happens,” says Azgar. (WION)

Story most Kashmiri men tell: ?I was beaten by security forces?

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