Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD: Risk factors

Treatment for PTSD

PTSD can be extremely debilitating and should be treated by trained medical or health care professionals at certified post-traumatic stress disorder treatment centers. The aims of PTSD treatment are reducing emotional and physical symptoms, improving daily functioning and helping individuals cope with events triggering the disorder.

To prevent PTSD symptoms from worsening, it is important to get it treated at the earliest. It is also important to note that PTSD symptoms differ from person to person, therefore, a treatment that works for one person may not work for others. Comprehensive PTSD residential treatment programs at certified PTSD treatment facilities involve a combination of medication and psychotherapy.

• Medications

As per the NIMH, medication that can help improve PTSD symptoms include antidepressants. These FDA-approved antidepressants help control PTSD symptoms like anger, worry and sadness.

• Psychotherapy

In addition to medication, a comprehensive treatment plan for PTSD also involves psychotherapies or talk therapies. Talk therapy usually lasts for six to 12 weeks, but depending on an individual’s symptoms, it can last even longer. Some types of psychotherapy used in PTSD treatment include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), individual, group, and family therapies.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: By recognizing one’s way of thinking and focusing on one’s thoughts, images and beliefs, CBT helps change one’s patterns of thinking or behavior. A short-term, goal-oriented therapy, CBT can include cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy. Cognitive restructuring helps patients make sense of their bad memories and exposure therapy helps patients face and control their fear.

• EMDR Therapy: A complex form of psychotherapy, EMDR combines exposure therapy with a series of guided eye movements. The therapy focuses on sounds or hand movements while the patient talks about the trauma. This kind of therapy helps the brain work through the traumatic memories.

• Individual, group, and family therapies: While individual therapy helps an individual engage in a self-reflective process on his or her emotions and behaviors, group therapy rests on the dynamic interaction among group members. In addition to individual and group therapies, family therapy, provided by psychologist or licensed therapist, helps family members improve communication and resolve conflicts among themselves.