GUELPH POLITICAST #267 - The Science of Trauma

Over 15 per cent of our region has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which means that we are slowly but surely putting the pandemic behind us. But once everyone’s gotten a shot, there’s going to be an even longer term recovery project to consider, which is how we will mentally recover from the pandemic. The last great COVID-19 health crisis will be fought inside each of us. Are we prepared?

Earlier this month, the Homewood Research Institute announced a new fellowship designed to train people to assist first responders and healthcare workers with trauma-related illnesses. The new program will support research into the diagnosis, treatment and recovery of post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI), and as you can imagine, there is probably going to be a lot of that in the years and decades to come as we begin the mental recovery from the pandemic.

If the job is to research trauma and PTSI, then Dr. McKinnon is exactly the right person for the task. She’s the Associate Co-Chair of Research and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. She’s also a Clinical Neuropsychologist with the Mood Disorders Program and Academic Head of Research for Mood and Anxiety Disorders Division at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, plus she's the Homewood Chair in Mental Health and Trauma. She knows a lot about trauma, and she's going to share that with us.

So in this edition of the podcast, Dr. McKinnon talk about the various ways trauma can manifest itself, and the trauma being inflicted on first responders and doctors as they continue to fight COVID-19 ever day. She will also discuss how we need to start planning for the mental health recovery from the pandemic, how to be aware if you or someone in your life might be having a hard time processing trauma, and how her personal experience with trauma made her a better researcher.

Let's tackle the health and science of treating trauma on this week’s Guelph Politicast.

You can learn more about Dr. McKinnon's research at the McMaster University faculty page, you can learn about the research being done through St. Joseph’s Healthcare here, and you can learn more about the research being done at Homewood Health Centre here. You can also follow Dr. McKinnon on Twitter.

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