PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological and physical condition that is caused by very frightening or distressing events. It occurs in up to 30% of people who experience traumatic events.

Our PTSD Blogs

Trauma-focused psychotherapies for PTSD in people with experiences of psychosis: A change in the status quo?

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Clinical Psychologist and Researcher Rachel Brand publishes her debut blog on a recent RCT of Prolonged Esposure vs Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing vs Waiting List for patients with PTSD and psychosis.

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Pharmacotherapy for PTSD: an update on the evidence finds some efficacy but small effect sizes

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams summarises a recent systematic review of pharmacotherapy for PTSD, which compares antidepressants with placebo for post-traumatic stress disorder. [Please note: this blog was amended on 7/5/15].

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Psychotherapy for UK military veterans: demographics and clinical outcomes

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Mark Smith reports on a study of psychotherapy for UK military veterans, using an IAPT service, which focuses on the demographic characteristics and clinical outcomes of early service leavers and veterans.

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Mental health therapy for refugee and asylum seeking children: a small evidence base for a big problem

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Refugees face a substantially higher risk of psychotic disorders compared to non-refugee migrants [see previous blog].

Laurence Palfreyman considers the very small and mixed evidence base of mental health interventions for refugee and asylum seeking children presented in a well conducted systematic review from last year.

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Alcohol misuse and PTSD comorbidity: a significant problem lacking solutions

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Current NICE guidelines state that PTSD should not be dealt with unless alcohol dependence is first treated. Paul Christiansen summarises a systematic review of the comorbidity between PTSD and alcohol misuse and wonders where the guidance leaves patients and professionals.

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Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for all common mental health disorders?

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For his ninth Mental Elf blog, Mark Smith reports on a Cochrane systematic review of the effectiveness of short term psychodynamic therapies on common mental health disorders.

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Mental disorders after critical illness: depression, PTSD and functional disability in survivors of intensive care

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The BRAIN-ICU prospective cohort study published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine looks at mental health outcomes and functional disabilities in a general ICU population. It explores the hypothesis that depressive symptoms after discharge are more often somatic (i.e. bodily complaints) than cognitive-affective (i.e. thought-related and mood-related complaints).

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Meta-review presents the risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders

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Raphael Underwood
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This recent and well-conducted meta-review concludes that the impact on mortality and suicide of mental disorders is substantial, and probably poorly appreciated as a public health problem. Raphael Underwood’s blog summarises the data for all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders.

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And if we do nothing? A new systematic review explores natural PTSD remission rates

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Who naturally recovers from PTSD and why? A recent meta-regression analysis finds an overall natural remission rate for PTSD of 44%, with no increase in remission after longer observation periods.

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Critical illness and risk of psychiatric diagnosis

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Out in the woodland we are pleased that recent advances in medical care mean that more patients are surviving critical illnesses within intensive care units (ICU).  “But what does that have to do with the Mental Elf?” I hear you say. Well, we Mental Elves are wondering whether this advancement in medical technology and technique are actually putting people [read the full story…]