Catastrophic disasters, such as the aircraft collsion on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., cause extreme disruption and can be distressful for individuals, families, and communities. Actions that promote the five essential elements of Psychological First Aid (safety, calming, connectedness, efficacy, and hope) can reduce individual distress and foster community sustainment through this event, as well as other disasters.  Members of the community can help reduce adversity and chronic stressors by helping friends and neighbors impacted by this event. Please click HERE for easy-to-use education fact sheets with recommended actions to protect the mental health and well-being of individuals and communities impacted by the plane crash.

Brain, Behavior, & Mind is a series of global forums featuring distinguished scientists, clinicians, and leaders whose work spans neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and public health. Each event explores new insights in our understanding of health and illness by integrating knowledge from genes to community and from the research bench to bedside care. Our aim is to advance the science and clinical care needed for the diverse populations of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Nation who face complex and stressful environments.

The conference is sponsored by the CSTS, in collaboration with USU’s Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, Department of Family Medicine, Center for Deployment Psychology, and Brain and Behavior Hub.

Registration now open

Catastrophic natural disasters, such as the Southern California wildfires cause extreme disruption and can be distressful for individuals, families and communities. For resources to help please click HERE

This document is an ongoing continuous summary of Army STARRS and STARRS-LS publications. STARRS/STARRS LS (2009 - present) is the largest and most comprehensive research project of mental health among U.S. Army Soldiers ever conducted. The project was designed to examine a broad range of risk and resilience (protective) factors across a complex set of outcomes including suicidal behaviors and associated mental health issues. Army STARRS scientists created a series of large and extensive databases with the potential to achieve groundbreaking results. These databases allow scientists to investigate a diverse combination of factors from demographic, psychological, biological, neurological, behavioral, and social domains with the goal of generating actionable findings for the Army. The project was designed using an adaptive approach which means it evolved as new information became available over the course of the project. The research team shared preliminary findings, as they became available, with senior Army leadership so the Army could apply them to its ongoing health promotion, risk reduction, and suicide prevention efforts. The work is continuing under the STARRS Longitudinal Study (STARRS-LS) which runs from 2015 to 2025.

Please view the Brain, Behavior, and Mind 2024 Fall Lecture HERE. 

Official event transcript