Violent Extremism, Community-Based Violence Prevention, and Mental Health Professionals.

New community-based initiatives being developed to address violent extremism in the United States are utilizing mental health services and leadership. This article reviews current approaches to preventing violent extremism, the contribution that mental illness and psychosocial problems can make to violent extremism, and the rationale for integrating mental health strategies into preventing violent extremism. The authors describe a community-based targeted violence prevention model and the potential roles of mental health professionals. This model consists of a multidisciplinary team that assesses at-risk individuals with comprehensive threat and behavioral evaluations, arranges for ongoing support and treatment, conducts follow-up evaluations, and offers outreach, education, and resources for communities. This model would enable mental health professionals in local communities to play key roles in preventing violent extremism through their practice and leadership.

Selective numbing and hyperarousal in male and female Bosnian refugees with PTSD.

Emotional numbing is an important symptom of PTSD, but it is not clear whether it affects both positive and negative affect equally or not. To address this question we administered Lang's Looking at Pictures test, in which a series of pictures are rated for valence (pleasant-unpleasant) and arousal (high-low), to 10 male and 11 female Bosnian refugees suffering from PTSD (DSM-IV criteria) and to control groups of 11 male and 10 female Bosnian refugees with similar trauma exposure but without PTSD or any other major mental illness. The mean valence ratings for unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant pictures of both PTSD and control males and females were similar to normal ratings. Likewise, the mean arousal ratings for unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant pictures of both male and female controls were similar to normals, with both unpleasant and pleasant pictures rated more arousing than neutral pictures. In contrast, in both males and females with PTSD pleasant pictures were rated as almost completely non-arousing. Thus, in Bosnian refugees affective numbing is seen primarily with pleasant or positive stimuli.