TIP SHEET

Detroit - The following highlights information about Bengt Arnetz, MD, PhD, MPH, MScEpi, a leading expert in the area of stress-related and delayed mental health disorders in first responders and military personnel. Dr. Arnetz is available to comment on the Fort Hood shooting that occurred Thursday, Nov. 5. For an interview, please contact Julie O'Connor at (313) 577-8845 or (734) 748-4207 or Cheryl Yurkovich at (313) 577-2150.

Dr. Bengt Arnetz, professor of family medicine and public health sciences in WSU's School of Medicine, is a research expert in the field of acute and delayed mental health disorders in first responders. He is involved with the City of Detroit in a primary prevention research project. He is also doing first responder research related to the military and low level sustained stress and effects on mental health and performance.

Arnetz has a special interest in preventing stress-related disorders and optimizing work performance and health among first responders. He is directing a funded project aimed at improving the understanding of long-term performance and health effects from everyday, low-level stressors facing different first responder groups. He also is involved in improving virtual training aimed at strengthening first responders' stress resiliency and performance under critical incident circumstances.

"First-responders such as police, firefighters and soldiers play a vital role to protect our nation and our civil society," Arnetz said. "They are potentially exposed to numerous critical incidents, for example, threat to their life, terror attacks, death and suffering. These events are well-researched and are established risk factors for mental and somatic health consequences, including post-traumatic stress disorders, depression and anxiety. However, during recent years there has been an increased interest as to possible effects from sustained/chronic low-level stress among first-responders and health and performance effects. This kind of stress, on the face not looking that dramatic, might exert a significant toll on first-responders."

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. To learn more about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.