Trauma

No one factor caused the 15-car crash that killed IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but one ingredient was the unusual situation in which drivers had "almost unlimited" freedom to race wherever they liked around the track, the Izod IndyCar Series said Thursday. Wheldon, 33, suffered fatal head injuries in the pileup on the 11th lap of the 200-lap race, IndyCar's season finale, on Oct. 16. "While several factors coincided to produce a 'perfect storm,' none of them can be singled out as the sole cause of the accident," IndyCar concluded in its investigation.

Dear Parents, It's that time of year when you are probably gearing up to torture your offspring with the ever-so-necessary trip to see Santa Claus. Well, take a look at this picture and heed this advice: Don't do it! At the very least, think twice. My mom has insisted on displaying this photo in our living room for the past 20 years, so I've had plenty of time for reflection. Why do parents do this? I mean, look at that howling baby! I may not remember the terror evident on my face, but I can tell you that my Santa phobia foreshadowed fears to come.

Inside a stuffy Cleveland classroom, Tim Boehnlein explained the mechanics of domestic violence and then posed a question. "So why do women stay?" he asked his class of would-be counselors. Ignorance, low self-esteem, lack of education, they speculated. No one really knew. PHOTOS: Survivors of abuse Except maybe the silent woman in back - the one fidgeting and looking at the floor. "I thought if I said something, it might frighten other people," she explained later.

Flashy Rick Martin was never going to be confused with an enforcer, achieving acclaim as a vaunted goal-scorer, not a fighter, in his glory days with the Buffalo Sabres. But Martin, who died in March of a heart attack at age 59, was revealed to have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated brain trauma, according to Boston University researchers in a report issued Wednesday. The other two former NHL players diagnosed with CTE, post-mortem, were known for their formidable fighting abilities, Bob Probert and Reggie Fleming . Martin was said to have stage two of the disease — stage four being the most severe.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer A novel Michelle Hodkin Simon & Schuster: 456 pp., $16.99, for readers age 14 and older Post traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition most often associated with military veterans. In "The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer," it's the back story to an unsettling, paranormal romance. There are echoes of Stephen King's classic "Carrie" in this young-adult series kickoff. Mara Dyer is a telekinetic 17-year-old who unwittingly murders people with her mind.

Ten years after terrorists hijacked four American jetliners and killed nearly 3,000 people, there's growing evidence that people with a previous history of depression, or who have been traumatized before, are far more vulnerable to developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than those without such histories. A new study suggests why, and supplies yet more evidence that genes play a powerful role in influencing who develops post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatic event and who doesn't.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, America woke up, got some coffee, and started its day as if nothing was wrong, as if the world was basically safe and predictable. The big story on NBC's "Today" show was Michael Jordan's upcoming return to the NBA. It was the very definition of a slow news day — until that first jet plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. Ten years later, we live in a different reality. The country is fighting two wars, the Middle East is in upheaval, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are dead and MJ is in upper management.

Eighteen months after they have returned from a war zone, soldiers bear an unmistakable sign of emotional trauma deep inside their brains. But in most, a key node of the brain's fear circuitry returns to normal, perhaps keeping mental illness such as post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) from developing, says a new study published Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. The study, a follow-up to an earlier brain-imaging study conducted by Dutch researchers, put two groups of Dutch soldiers into a brain scanner called a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner, and had them look at pictures of people expressing anger or fear.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas on Monday said that he's seen no evidence so far suggesting Fullerton police officers intentionally tried to kill homeless man Kelly Thomas, but that his office is still trying to determine whether the officers used excessive force in his death. Rackauckas, speaking about it publicly for the first time, said the investigation is in its early stages and his office has yet to get a cause-of-death determination from the Orange County coroner's office.

In the thriving local slam poetry scene, the Damn Slam L.A. team stands out not only for its poetry, but also for the stories that inspire its members. The team — including Gia Scott-Heron, daughter of the late influential jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron — has faced daunting struggles since its formation in May by a group of local poets. Within a week of inception, the group was dealing with everything from the death of Gia's father to the news that the team's coach (Tamara Blue)