Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Treatment

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PTSD Treatment

Treatment of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) consists of behavior therapy, pharmacotherapy, and psychotherapy. Behavior therapy involves exposure to safe situations that the person avoids because they may trigger a reexperience of the trauma. Repeated exposure in fantasy to the traumatic experience itself usually lessens distress after some initial increase in discomfort. Preventing certain ritual behaviors, such as excessive washing to feel clean after a sexual assault, may also help. Antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs appear to have some benefit but are generally less effective than for other anxiety disorders. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (eg, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors appear most effective.

Because the anxiety associated with traumatic memories is often extremely intense, supportive psychotherapy plays an important role. In particular, therapists must be openly empathic and sympathetic in their recognition of patients' psychologic pain and must validate the reality of the traumatic experiences. At the same time, therapists must encourage patients to face the memories as they undergo behavioral desensitization and learn techniques of anxiety control in an attempt to modulate and integrate the memories into their broader personality organization.

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In addition to trauma-specific anxiety, patients may experience guilt because they behaved aggressively and destructively during armed combat or because they survived a traumatic experience in which family members or close associates perished--so-called survivor guilt. In such cases, psychodynamic or insight-oriented psychotherapy aimed at helping patients understand and modify their self-critical and punitive psychologic attitudes may be helpful.

Source: Merck Manual, 2003

RELATED LINKS AND INFO

Coping With Trauma
Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - Detailed Overview
PTSD Treatment: Medications and Therapy
PTSD: Critical Incident Debriefing
EMDR
PTSD Diagnosis and Treatment
About Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Warning Signs of Trauma Related Stress
Examples of PTSD - Symptoms, Diagnosis
Types of PTSD
Causes of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Managing Traumatic Stress: Tips for Recovering From Disasters and Other Traumatic Events
Are Women at Greater Risk for PTSD than Men?

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