Health and Psychology

For the second time this year (and it's March!) and more than the 10th time in the past year, I've sat across from someone telling me that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a chronic disease and there are no effective treatments.  Occasionally thse are uninformed therapists, but sadly some of these people are patients.

What a shame.  First, it's not true.  There are three evidence based treatments for PTSD.

• Cognitive Processing Therapy
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
  
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy
• There are some other treatments that may also be promising, like Acceptance and Commitment Treatment, but there isn't enough research to determine if these other treatments are as effective as the other three.

Secondly, it limits the likelihood of any search for treatment for these patients who just give up and make their lives small.

So here is basic information for anyone who has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

• PTSD treatment is exceptionally effective. 
  
• Regardless of how long ago the trauma occurred, most patients can benefit from treatment.  
• Treatment is relatively short, symptom focused, with symptom reduction in as little as four weeks.
• Group therapy and supportive therapy show little effectiveness in symptom reduction in general.

PTSD involves exposure to a serious trauma that may have been life-threatening.  The majority of research has been done on combat veterans, victims of violent crime-such as rape, robbery, and attempted murder victims, and victims of accidents.  Symptoms of PTSD include nightmares, reliving the trauma, hypervigilance, irritability, avoidance behaviors and interference with social, occupational and general life functioning as well as other symptoms.

If you have PTSD or know someone who does, urge them to seek effective treatment.