Depression is a medical condition with emotional, behavioural/cognitive, and physical symptoms. It can have a dramatic impact on your health and well-being. Learn more about depression symptoms, how depression is diagnosed, and what treatment options are available.
The diagnosis of PTSD is based on 4 specific features that must be present for at least one month and cause significant distress or impact on a person's daily life and functioning that is not caused by another medical condition, medication, or substance (e.g., alcohol):
intrusion symptoms – re-experiencing symptoms after the trauma, such as intrusive thoughts or recollections, recurrent dreams of the trauma, flashbacks of the trauma
avoidance symptoms – avoiding thinking about the trauma, avoiding people or places that remind you of the trauma
negative symptoms – inability to remember specifics about the trauma, detachment, diminished interest in activities, detachment from others, inability to experience positive kinds of emotions, negative feelings about oneself or the world
These symptoms must also cause significant distress or interfere with a person's daily life and functioning.
Treating and Preventing PTSD
Treatment can be effective for PTSD and involves psychological intervention as well as medications.
The main psychological treatment for treating PTSD is trauma-focused psychotherapy, which includes cognitive-behavioural therapy and exposure-based therapies. Cognitive-behavioural therapy means examining the thought processes associated with the trauma, the way memories return, and how people react to them. PTSD often fades over time, even without treatment, and the goal of therapy is to accelerate that natural healing process.
Because the horror may fade over time, being confronted with memories of the trauma when in a safe situation may help a person over time to become less frightened or depressed by those memories. This is a form of exposure-based therapy called prolonged exposure therapy, which is often combined with cognitive behavioural therapy. Psychological treatments are particularly helpful for the "re-experiencing symptoms" and any social or vocational impairment caused by PTSD. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is also a recognized treatment for PTSD.
Medications that may be used in treatment are serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s; e.g., fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline). Another class of medications called serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI’s; e.g. venlafaxine) is sometimes used as well. Most people with PTSD will benefit from taking antidepressant medications, whether or not they have clinical depression accompanying their PTSD. SSRIs are usually started at low doses and increased slowly. It may take 2 to 3 months to determine the full effectiveness of the medication, although some people may continue treatment with the medication for 6 months up to a year or longer. Prazosin, which is used to treat high blood pressure, may not treat PTSD itself, but has been shown to help with PTSD associated nightmares. Other medications (e.g., those that help balance mood and reduce mood swings, or antipsychotics) may also help to relieve symptoms.
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2024. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/condition/getcondition/PTSD
