Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is often seen as a more attractive alternative by patients who reject more traditional forms of therapy and may help decrease the prevalence of treatment failure when used individually or in conjunction with previously established therapies. This paper reviews CAM for treatment of PTSD. Addeddate
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Can complementary and alternative therapy help with PTSD?
· Reviews the evidence about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches as treatment for PTSD and describes VA’s efforts to support research investigating CAM for PTSD. Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.
Which medications are used in PTSD treatment?
· As someone who has posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I am often on the lookout for alternative therapies for my PTSD recovery.I recently started reading up on the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies that are suggested for PTSD (Alternative Approaches to Mental Health Treatment).Even though I will not abandon the …
What is the best treatment for PTSD in veterans?
In addition to conventional treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, such as therapy and medications, several alternative and complementary treatments are also available to treat the condition. These treatments include repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, acupuncture, hypnosis, meditation and visualization.
What are complementary and alternative therapies?
This suboptimal response to traditional care leaves many both patients and providers frustrated that tools necessary to alleviate the social, occupational and interpersonal dysfunction resulting from PTSD seem lacking. Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, compiles the most recent understanding of many of the complementary and …
What is complementary medicine?
Complementary and alternative medicine is the terminology used to represent the group of therapies beyond traditional, Western, medical treatments. The word "complementary" denotes treatments that are used in conjunction with conventional methods of care, and the word "alternative" is used to describe treatments that are used instead ...
What is the best CAM therapy for stress?
Yoga is one of the top 10 CAM therapies recommended for reducing stress and anxiety. It is also known to lower blood pressure and heart rate in practitioners.
What are some examples of power therapy?
Examples of power therapies are thought field therapy (TFT), emotional freedom techniques (EFT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), the Tapas acupressure technique (TAT), and trauma incident reduction (TIR). With the exception of EMDR, none of the power therapies have been successfully compared to traditional PTSD treatments.
What is a natural therapist?
Naturopathy is the use of natural substances to treat illnesses. It can include herbal, plant, or animal extracts. There are some naturally occurring substances that have the same biochemical mechanism as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), or antidepressants, which are commonly used for PTSD treatment. The efficacy of these substances has not been tested for PTSD though, and should not be used without consulting a doctor.
Is PTSD a treatment?
Because PTSD is an anxiety disorder, any type of treatment or therapy that works for relieving stress and lessening anxiety may be beneficial to PTSD sufferers. Of course, not all people with PTSD react in the same way to specific treatments. What works for me, may not work for you, and vice versa. So, just like finding ...
Can you use CAM with alternative therapies?
Most people who use CAM don't truly use only alternative therapies, they are more likely to use some of the recommended treatments along with their current therapy programs.
Can CAM therapy help with PTSD?
The use of complementary and alternative therapy approaches to PTSD treatment are on the rise, and many people find at least a portion of them to be helpful in dealing with PTSD and other anxiety-related ...
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder may result from exposure to a myriad of traumatic events including war, natural disaster, and interpersonal violence. Traditional methods of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy have provided relief to many but have also failed to address the suffering of large numbers of others.
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What is the best meditation for PTSD?
Concentrative meditation. Concentrative meditation, such as transcendental meditation (TM) or mantra meditation, involves focused attention on an object, word, image, or breath. Initial studies have demonstrated the feasibility of mantra meditation and TM for individuals with PTSD. 7,8 One application, the Mantram Repetition Program (MRP), involves focus on repetition of a spiritually meaningful word or phrase (eg, Om, Ave Maria, Shalom); when attention wanders, it is returned to the word or phrase, without judgment. One RCT demonstrated added benefit of MRP when added to treatment as usual, and additional work is underway to evaluate MRP compared with an active control. 9
What are some techniques to help with PTSD?
Relaxation. Relaxation techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing and progressive relaxation, are often taught in cognitive and behavioral therapies for PTSD and may promote meaningful engagement in trauma-focused psychotherapy.
How does mindfulness help with PTSD?
Mindfulness offers a way to increase awareness and acceptance of difficult experiences. Several preliminary studies and one RCT have demonstrated initial promise of mindfulness-based interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction, in reducing PTSD symptoms.4-6. Concentrative meditation.
What is Mr. L's PTSD?
Mr L is a veteran with PTSD and chronic pain, who joined our compassion meditation program (Cognitively Based Compassion Training®) as an adjunct to his pharmacologic treatment. He had symptoms of avoidance related to both conditions and reported irritability. At the start of training, he reported some struggles with learning meditation, finding it difficult to maintain focus on the breath and becoming frustrated when his attention was drawn away. He persisted with the practice, however, and was particularly compelled by the contemplative practice in the latter half of the group. Although his PTSD symptom scores reduced meaningfully, his primary provider was most struck by the difference in his appearance after he completed the group. Previously somewhat disheveled and presenting an angry demeanor, he was dressing and grooming himself more neatly. He had realized that he had been conveying a message to others to “stay away,” and wanted now to be seen as open to engaging with others.
How to help veterans with PTSD?
Compassion meditation has been associated with increases in positive emotion and social connectedness in non-clinical samples. 13,14 Open trials suggest the feasibility and potential clinical utility of these approaches for veterans with PTSD. 15,16 Work is ongoing in our laboratory and elsewhere to examine the efficacy of these approaches.
What is complementary and integrative health?
In recent years, we have witnessed growing interest in complementary and integrative health (CIH), which involves the incorporation of strategies that currently fall outside of Western medicine into care with the aim of improving wellness as opposed to simply mitigating symptoms. “Complementary” refers to the application of these treatments in conjunction with standard care , while “alternative” is used when these practices replace conventional treatment. “Integrative” is a term used to refer to the combination of traditional and non-traditional approaches. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) reports that many Americans (~30% of adults) use CIH approaches, citing “general wellness or disease prevention” as the most common reason for use. 1 Additional commonly endorsed goals of CIH use include to “feel better emotionally” or to “treat a specific medical or mental health condition.”
Is yoga safe for PTSD?
Yoga is acceptable, feasible, and low-risk; yoga can be recommended as a complementary approach to other evidence-based treatments . It may be helpful to direct individuals with PTSD to teachers who are familiar with trauma-sensitive yoga.
What is the best treatment for post traumatic stress disorder?
Trauma-focused therapies, particularly prolonged exposure and cognitive processing therapy, are recommended as first-line treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, a subset of patients refuse, fail to respond, or respond only partially to these interventions. This chapter outlines numerous promising adaptions of and augmentation methods for existing evidence-based PTSD treatments in an effort to improve out comes for all treatment seekers. These include couple-and family-based adaptions of PTSD treatment, augmenting psychotherapy with pharmacological and neurostimulation interventions, the use of Internet-based and smartphone-based platforms to deliver PTSD treatment, and the use of complementary and integrative medicine approaches to supplement evidence-based psychotherapy. Also reviewed is the evidence for using complementary and integrative medicine approaches to target sleep disturbances. Although many of these approaches are in preliminary stages of development and require further study, they represent important progress in helping clinicians better serve the many needs of individuals with PTSD.
What is complementary medicine?
Complementary and alternative medicine is a diverse set of practices and treatments that has seen a significant increase among Americans over the past decade. These approaches have been applied to a myriad of medical and mental health disorders with varying levels of efficacy. Recent years have seen an increased interest in the use of complementary and alternative medicine to address the growing numbers of individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders. These approaches include pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic modalities. This article will review some of the most widely used non-pharmacologic complementary and alternative medicine practices used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder such as recreational therapy, animal-assisted therapy, yoga, and acupuncture as well as alternative delivery methods for psychotherapy.
How effective is yoga therapy for PTSD?
For example, yoga therapy for veterans with PTSD may be more effective if tailored specifically to emphasize autonomic regulation, mindfulness, and acceptance. In addition, yoga therapy for veterans with PTSD can be customized to reinforce therapeutic concepts used in other evidence-based practices for PTSD. Similarly, meditation may be more effective for the treatment of PTSD when it incorporates psychoeducation about effectively managing symptoms of reexperiencing that may arise during meditation. These are empirical questions that deserve research attention.
What percent of PTSD programs use CAM?
Ninety-s ix percent of programs reported use of at least one CAM treatment. Eighty-eight percent offered CAMs other than those that are commonly part of conventional PTSD treatments (guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, and stress management–relaxation therapies).
Is CAM a part of PTSD treatment?
This study found that CAM is widely offered in VA specialized PTSD treatment programs. Only 4% of programs responding to the survey indicated that CAM was not offered. For the CAM treatments most commonly offered, there is an evidence base indicating effectiveness for the development of autonomic regulation ( 13 ), an important skill for individuals with PTSD. In fact, many of these treatments, although categorized as CAM, are often offered as part of conventional psychotherapeutic treatment of PTSD (for example, stress management–relaxation therapy).
Is PTSD treatment offered by the VA?
Although PTSD treatment is offered in VA mental health services outside of these programs, the designation of “specialized PTSD program” is used for programs staffed by experts who have concentrated their clinical work in PTSD treatment and who meet specific staffing and reporting requirements (12).
Does the VA have evidence based treatment for PTSD?
Although the VA has invested resources in disseminating evidence-based treatments for PTSD, research has shown that many veterans do not complete these treatments and that many who complete them continue to have symptoms ( 14 ). Furthermore, the efficacy of these treatments among veterans with comorbid disorders and prolonged, complex trauma histories has not been established. Future studies should examine whether participation in CAM therapies that have been shown to help with autonomic regulation (such as yoga and meditation) increases retention rates in evidence-based practices and improves outcomes by giving participants additional skills in self-regulation and affect management.
Is CAM used in VA PTSD?
The widespread use of CAM treatments in VA PTSD programs presents an opportunity for researchers to assess the effect of CAM on mental health service use and PTSD symptoms among veterans. Future research should assess the effectiveness of CAM treatments and develop methods to tailor these treatments to veterans with PTSD.
How many medications are conditionally recommended for PTSD?
Three psychotherapies and four medications are conditionally recommended. Interventions that received a conditional recommendation all have evidence that indicates that they can lead to good treatment outcomes; however, the evidence may not be as strong, or the balance of treatment benefits and possible harms may be less favorable, or the intervention may be less applicable across treatment settings or subgroups of individuals with PTSD. Additional research may lead to a change in the strength of recommendations in future guidelines.
How long does it take to get a trauma treatment?
It is typically delivered in weekly sessions over three months individually or in groups.
What is CBT therapy?
The category of CBT encompasses various types and elements of treatment used by cognitive behavioral therapists, while Cognitive Processing Therapy, Cognitive Therapy and Prolonged Exposure are all more specialized treatments that focus on particular aspects of CBT interventions.
How many sessions are there in cognitive behavioral therapy?
For example, altering a person’s unhelpful thinking can lead to healthier behaviors and improved emotion regulation. It is typically delivered over 12-16 sessions in either individual or group format.
What is brief eclectic therapy?
Brief eclectic psychotherapy combines elements of cognitive behavioral therapy with a psychodynamic approach. It focuses on changing the emotions of shame and guilt and emphasizes the relationship between the patient and therapist.
What is cognitive therapy?
Derived from cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy entails modifying the pessimistic evaluations and memories of trauma, with the goal of interrupting the disturbing behavioral and/or thought patterns that have been interfering in the person’s daily life.
What is cognitive behavioral therapy?
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the relationships among thoughts, feelings and behaviors; targets current problems and symptoms; and focuses on changing patterns of behaviors, thoughts and feelings that lead to difficulties in functioning.
What is complementary medicine?
The term complementary describes treatments used in conjunction with standard care, and the term alternative relates to less conventional methods of treatment. In recent years, the term “integrative health” has been used to describe the incorporation of evidence-based CAM therapies into conventional treatments for the purpose ...
Where is complementary medicine practiced?
The branch of medical care referred to as complementary and alternative medicine has been in practice in some parts of the world, such as China and India and among the numerous tribes of the indigenous American peoples, for hundreds of years. These traditional techniques may not necessarily be considered "complementary" or "alternative.".
What can a therapist do with CAM?
Therapists can introduce those in treatment to complementary approaches such as meditation or relaxation. Doctors can suggest chiropractic care or massage therapy. A person who has had success with a particular CAM approach can share this information with a provider, in the interest of increasing knowledge about CAM.
What is the PHM movement?
Nonetheless, conventional medicine had its critics, who often claimed it to be expensive, risky, and imprecise. Some of these critics formed the Popular Health Movement ( PHM ), which flourished during the 1830s and 1840s and was devoted to the preservation of herbal remedies, nutrition, exercise, self-healing, and other practice methods of midwives and lay practitioners. The lasting impact the Popular Health Movement had on the medical field is still in effect today. In 1992, the National Institute of Health established the Office of Alternative Medicine ( OAM ), which was renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( NCCAM) in 1998 and is now known as the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Even today, CAM therapies continue to grow in popularity. National surveys show nearly 69% of Americans use at least one form of CAM treatment in any given year.
What is the best supplement for depression?
Omega-3 fatty acids, also known as fish oil, may help address mood concerns and depression. Some also believe fish oil helps enhance the effectiveness of antidepressants . Research has shown that young adults who begin taking omega-3 fatty acids after experiencing their first psychotic episode may be less likely to develop a more serious condition. Folate, otherwise known as folic acid and vitamin B9, may also be used to supplement traditional mental health treatment for people with depression and schizophrenia. One specific form of folate, I-methylfolate, has been approved for this use by the FDA.
What is holistic psychology?
Many individuals take a holistic approach to healing and wellness and, as part of this approach, incorporate techniques outside the fields of medical and mental health. These techniques, which may be movement-based, biological, or energy-based, include treatments such as acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga, Reiki, biofeedback, nutritional therapies, and meditation. Some have been proven to have a positive effect on mental and/or physical health, while others are not yet supported by scientific evidence.
Is medicine a complementary field?
These traditional techniques may not necessarily be considered "complementary" or "alternative.". Before the 19th century, medicine was considered a supplemental field, and many techniques now viewed as complementary or alternative were mainstream at that time.