VA Leads the Way in PTSD Research and Treatment
Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, or PTSD, is a mental health condition that develops after a traumatic event and causes you to relive the event through intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmare and other side effects.
Symptoms of PTSD can appear immediately after a traumatic event, or develop weeks, months, or even years later. Due to the potentially stressful and dangerous nature of military service, Veterans have a high risk of being diagnosed with PTSD when compared to other populations. Some common causes of PTSD among Veterans include, but are not limited to, being injured in the line of duty, experiencing the loss of a fellow servicemember and surviving military sexual trauma.
To better care for Veterans, VA established the National Center for PTSD in 1989. Today, they lead the world in PTSD research, treatment, and education to help Veterans overcome their trauma through individualized care. Of those treatment options, evidence-based therapies, or EBTs, have proven to be the most effective in treating PTSD. Some of the EBT’s provided at VA include:
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) helps Veterans to identify how traumatic experiences have affected their thinking, to evaluate those thoughts, and to change them. Through CPT, Veterans may develop more healthy and balanced beliefs about themselves others, and the world.
Prolonged Exposure (PE) helps Veterans to gradually approach and address traumatic memories, feelings, and situations. By confronting these challenges directly, Veterans may see PTSD symptoms begin to decrease.
Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) helps couples understand the effect of PTSD on relationships and can improve interpersonal communications. Veterans may also experience a change in thoughts and beliefs related to their PTSD and relationship challenges.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) helps you process and make sense of your trauma. It involves calling the trauma to mind while paying attention to a back-and-forth movement or sound (like a finger waving side to side, a light, or a tone).
While EBTs are proven to be the most effective treatment for PTSD, medication options are also available through your primary care provider. Click here to explore more potential treatment options at VA.
PTSD symptoms may go away within a few weeks of a traumatic experience, but they may also reappear, or persist until treated. You should talk to your VA provider if you’ve been through a traumatic event and are experiencing any of the following:
- Intrusive thoughts of the event
- Nightmares or difficulty sleeping
- Flashbacks
- Avoidance of things that remind you of the event
- Recurrent stress or anxiety
- Numbness
- Being hyperaware of your surroundings
- Difficulty concentrating
- Alcohol or drug use
- Withdrawal from people, places and activities you used to enjoy
Only a mental health care provider can diagnose PTSD, but this quick five question self-screen can help you determine if you, or someone you know, might be experiencing PTSD. Click here to self-screen for PTSD and to learn more about treatment with VA.