As many Australians are confronted with the aftermath of the Bondi Junction stabbing, killing six people in Sydney last month, local researchers are taking mental health matters into their own hands.

The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) has opened an $18.5 million National PTSD Research Centre, the first of its kind in the country.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can cause debilitating symptoms and affects nearly half of Australians directly or indirectly.

With a global trauma expert leading the way, the “PTSD powerhouse” plans to focus on fast-acting therapy, and aims to understand, educate, and advocate.

Based at UniSC’s Thompson Institute at Birtinya, the centre features advanced neuroimaging technology, medication-assisted therapy rooms, long-stay clinical observation rooms, a clinical trials facility, and a laboratory for molecular research.  

The research will focus on new treatments and interventions for PTSD, and identification of biomarkers and early risk identification. 

Current treatments not affective

UniSC Chancellor and retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston says of the 1.4 million Australians affected, veterans and first responders have “completely debilitating” symptoms.

“Many sufferers experience terrible flashbacks, nightmares and emotions long after the traumatic event, disrupting their lives enormously,” he says.

“People who have lived through other traumatic experiences such as domestic violence, crime, abuse or disasters may also suffer.” 

Statistics show 60 per cent of current treatments are not effective past six months. 

“In order to effectively prevent, diagnose and treat PTSD, we need breakthroughs in the neurobiology that underpins the disorder, its causes, and other impacts of traumatic stress.”

A global expert to lead “PTSD powerhouse”

Professor Alain Brunet, who has first-hand experience in trauma after a mass shooting at his college campus, will lead UniSC’s Thompson Institute.

From McGill University, Professor Brunet has dedicated his career to psychology and understanding mental health impacts of trauma and pioneering new treatments.  

“With the gifted team of researchers that we are building, my goal is that the Thompson Institute will become a powerhouse for understanding the neuroscience of PTSD,” he says.

“One of the key areas of focus of the Thompson Institute is to deliver rapid translation of research to the community, which is really the hallmark of a great modern research centre.”

Research will focus on climate change, disasters and pre-natal maternal stress. 

“There are many traumatic events happening in Australia – bushfire, floods, and more recently two very public attacks, reminding us that we need to get the support rapidly out into the community.

“Stress and trauma-related disorders are a global public health problem, and my focus is on characterising the risk factors which will allow us to change the way we treat PTSD.”

Trauma expert’s mass shooting nightmare

Professor Brunet was studying psychology at Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, when 14 women were killed in a mass shooting on campus.

He says the response was “alarmingly disorganised” with little formal support.

“I was appalled by the fact that we didn’t really know how to intervene,” he says. 

“And it occurred to me that there was a contribution to be made, that we could probably do a much better job than that, and that was the beginning of my vocation. 

“Since that day in 1989, we’ve come a long way in how we respond to traumatic events and how we support people who are affected. 

“We have accomplished giant steps in our understanding of traumatic stress at all levels.”

Hope for PTSD survivors

Police officer Shane Smithers (main picture) was left with PTSD after a domestic violence incident in 2018 when he was one of the first officers at the scene of a violent crime.

The victim, who had multiple stab wounds, was someone he knew and his daughter’s age.  
 
“I was confronted with the scene of a horror movie. At one point she was in my arms as the doctors tried to re-start her heart.”

After more than 12 hours of first responding and cleaning up blood from the scene, Shane received little support.

“I kept pushing myself to work and feeling responsibility but the things that were creeping in were the flashbacks, the nightmares, being able to smell and taste the iron in the blood, waking up thinking I’m still there and having to dealing with incident again.  

“It took me six weeks to see a doctor, and that was six years ago now.”   

Shane still suffers from nightmares, loss of concentration, poor short-term memory and hypervigilance to the point of exhaustion.

The trauma has affected his ability to communicate, and also his relationships and ability to work.

“Now when I hear sirens, I get the biggest dump of adrenaline and suffer all the same physiological responses.”

Shane participated in a clinical trial into a new treatment for PTSD at the new centre, and says after six weeks he noticed significant improvements.

Results from this trial are yet to be published, but researchers say early findings are promising.  

Editing traumatic memories

Professor Brunet is internationally recognised for developing Reconsolidation Therapy, an evidence-based treatment for gradually decreasing the strength of emotional memories for those who have experienced trauma.  

In effect, the treatment is “editing” how the memory is experienced. 

Understanding memories of negative events is critical to understanding and treating PTSD, he says.

“If you can turn down that memory and remove the sting, and understand the neurobiology of how the brain creates, stores, retrieves and modifies memories, you would achieve a giant leap in therapeutics.”

Reconsolidation Therapy has proven to be efficient and effective and has since been taught to more than 1400 clinicians worldwide. 

It takes two assessments and six treatment sessions for 70 to 80 percent of participants to report positive benefits. Comparatively, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy takes about six months.  

For most, symptoms improve by 50 percent. For others, the therapy allows them to leave the house, rejoin the workforce or resume their role as a parent.  

This efficiency makes it suitable for urgent care situations, with Professor Brunet to soon lead a delegation to war-affected Ukraine to teach this Reconsolidation Therapy to local clinicians.

Working with psychadelics

Professor Brunet is keen to pair the therapy with promising psychedelic assisted therapies currently being trialed at UniSC’s Thompson Institute. 

For example, a treatment that proved effective in treating suicidality is also showing promise in treating PTSD.

He also looks forward to more research into potential biomarkers for predicting PTSD. 

“Biomarkers can be any kind of biological trait, like our genes, hormones, or even brain structures, that can be used to tell us about someone’s risk of developing a condition; whether they have a condition or what treatments might work best for them.

“Identifying biomarkers for PTSD is very challenging because the condition can be quite different for different people, but I’m excited to follow the promising research in this space already happening at UniSC.” 

Clinical trials into novel treatments are already underway at the centre.

National PTSD Research Centre is supported by $8.3 million of Federal Government funding, additional funding from Sunshine Coast philanthropists, with the remaining funded by UniSC.