In its “On Parenting” blog, the Washington Post (12/1, Williams) reported that on Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard testimony from advocacy groups and experts about autism research. The blog said that “for more than two hours, members of the committee asked Alan Guttmacher, the director of the Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health, and Colleen Boyle of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about research, possible causes and treatments.” Leaders from the Autism Society, Autism Speaks, SafeMinds, and the Asperger Initiative took part in the second panel. The Post described that “after hours of questions and testimony about what a burden autism is for families and society, two adults with autism, Ari Ne’eman and Michael John Carley, spoke.” According to the blog, “their testimony was moving and telling; they talked passionately about the need for services for adults with autism.”

Related Links:

— “Adults with autism tell Congress more funds needed for services, “Mari-Jane Williams, The Washington Post, November 30, 2012.

According to the New York Times (12/3, A12, Dao, Subscription Publication), a class-action lawsuit filed in Federal District Court argues that Vietnam veterans who were issued other-than-honorable discharges had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when the discharges were issued. The suit, which seeks to have the discharges upgraded, “raises two thorny issues that could affect thousands of Vietnam veterans: Can they be given a diagnosis of PTSD retroactively, to their time in service, though the disorder was not identified until 1980? And if they can, should recently instituted policies intended to protect troops with PTSD be applied retroactively to their cases?” An Army spokesperson “said the military has a policy of not discussing pending litigation.”

Related Links:

— “Vietnam Veterans, Discharged Under Cloud, File Suit Saying Trauma Was Cause,”James Dao, The New York Times, December 2, 2012.

HealthDay (12/1, Preidt) reported, “One in five adults in the United States, or 45.6 million people, had a mental illness in the past year,” according to the “2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health,” which “defined mental illness as having a diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorder. The survey included more than 65,000 people aged 12 and older in the United States. The report on the survey was released by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).”

Related Links:

— “Mental Illness Affects 1 in 5 U.S. Adults, Survey Finds, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 30, 2012.

Psychiatric News (11/29) reported that intervention shortly after trauma may reduce or prevent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a study published in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of Biological Psychiatry. “Emory University researchers randomized 137 patients to review and process their trauma experiences under the guidance of a trained therapist. The one-hour therapy began in the emergency room within 12 hours of the trauma and was repeated one and two weeks later.” Notably, “significantly fewer patients in the intervention group met criteria for PTSD at week 12, compared with controls,”

Related Links:

— “Intervention Soon After Trauma Cuts PTSD Symptoms, Psychiatric News Alert, November 29, 2012.

HealthDay (11/30, Preidt) reports, “Childhood abuse and previous exposure to violence may increase a soldier’s risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” according to a study published this month in the journal Psychological Science. After following “746 Danish soldiers before, during and after they were deployed to Afghanistan,” researchers found that the “soldiers who developed PTSD were much more likely to have suffered emotional problems and traumatic events at some point in their lives before they went to Afghanistan.”

Related Links:

— “Violence in a Soldier’s Past May Up PTSD Risk, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 29, 2012.