Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Therapy

General measures

  • Early intervention
  • Observance of all general measures under “Insomnia (Sleep Disorders)/Other Therapy/General Measures.”
  • Monitoring of the patient; in case of acute suicidality (suicide risk): hospitalization.

Sports medicine

Physical therapy (including physiotherapy)

  • Physical and movement and physiotherapy* (due topositive influence on comorbid disorders/companion diseases).

* In terms of a trauma-specific, multimodal treatment plan.

Psychotherapy

  • The most important pillar of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) therapy is psychotherapy (first-line therapy). The following procedures are available:
    • Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) lasting several hours [as early intervention].
    • Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-KVT) to process the memory of the traumatic experiences as well as their meaning. Furthermore, to teach emotion regulation and improve relationship problems. [evidence-based psychotherapy method]
    • “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing” (EMDR) [good evidence of effectiveness].
    • “Imagery Rescriptin and Reprocessing Therapy” (IRRT).
    • Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) – for survivors of multiple and severe traumatic events.
  • Psychotherapy combined with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): in the MDMA group, 72% responded to treatment, compared with 19% in the control group; comparison between start of therapy and follow-up at two to 74 months: standard deviation (SMD) for change in PTSD symptoms between start and end of therapy was 0.85, which is a large effect size.
  • Trauma therapy – combination of supportive-stabilizing and confrontational treatment strategies; posttraumatic stress disorder therapy includes initial interventions, trauma-specific stabilization, trauma processing, and psychosocial reintegration.
  • Transcendental Meditation – After 3 months of treatment, study participants suffering from very severe PTSD symptoms had symptom reduction as effective as those receiving prolonged exposure therapy and better symptom relief than those attending health education classes.

Complementary treatments

* In terms of a trauma-specific, multimodal treatment plan.