what theoretical perspective of theorists for ptsd is associated with the disorder for treatment

For example, Tryon (1999) proposed a theory of PTSD based on a connectionist neural network. This involved making several assumptions, for example, that there would be an association between enhanced memory for the trauma and greater PTSD and between enhanced peri-traumatic dissociation and reduced PTSD. As we have seen, both of these are

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What are the different theories of PTSD?

12 rows · From this competition-theory perspective, extinction accounts of PTSD derive from two ...

What is the information processing theory of PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the few mental disorders in which the cause is readily identifiable. In this article, we review the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria, prevalence, and …

What are the best psychological theories on trauma?

May 01, 2003 · The treatment method associated with emotional processing theory, prolonged exposure, is well established as a highly effective treatment for PTSD Foa et al., 1991, Foa et al., 1999. Several studies have investigated whether, as the theory predicts, the successful outcome of exposure treatment is related to the initial activation of fear and to within-session and …

Do individuals with PTSD engage in problematic behavior and cognitive strategies?

For example, a large study of traumatic injury survivors found that two-thirds did not have a diagnosis of PTSD but were diagnosed with either depression (16%), generalised anxiety disorder ( …

What are theoretical perspectives of PTSD?

What theory works best with PTSD?

What is the biological perspective of PTSD?

How does a psychologist treat PTSD?

What is EMDR treatment for PTSD?

Is PTSD biological or environmental?

What is Horowitz's theory of PTSD?

His theory has roots in psychodynamically informed observations of normal and abnormal bereavement reactions, and in a long tradition emphasizing people's development of individual assumptive worlds. Horowitz argued that when faced with trauma, people's initial response is outcry at the realization of the trauma. A second response is to try to assimilate the new trauma information with prior knowledge. At this point, many individuals experience a period of information overload during which they are unable to match their thoughts and memories of the trauma with the way that they represented meaning before the trauma. In response to this tension, psychological defense mechanisms are brought into play to avoid memories of the trauma and pace the extent to which it is recalled. For example, the individual may be in denial about the trauma, feel numb, or avoid reminders of it. However, the fundamental psychological need to reconcile new and old information means that trauma memories will actively break into consciousness in the form of intrusions, flashbacks, and nightmares. These consciously experienced trauma memories provide the individual with an opportunity to try to reconcile them with pre-trauma representations.

What is PTSD associated with?

PTSD is associated with disturbances in a wide range of psychological processes including memory, attention, cognitive–affective reactions, beliefs, coping strategies, and social support. At present, it appears that what is most likely unique to PTSD, compared to other psychological disorders, are the unusual and inconsistent memory phenomena centered on the event itself and the recruiting of a variety of dissociative responses. In contrast, the findings concerning other processes have much in common with the results of research on depression and other anxiety disorders, with which PTSD is frequently comorbid. It is clear that the emotions involved in PTSD are not by any means restricted to fear, helplessness, and horror, or to what was actually experienced at the time of the trauma. Beliefs, too, are not restricted to those concerning the event itself but may involve much more general aspects of the person, the social world, and the future. Theories of PTSD, therefore, need to incorporate explanations of processes that are both specific to PTSD and more general, as well as processes that are relatively automatic (such as helplessness and dissociation) or relatively strategic (such as individual appraisals and choice of coping strategy).

What is the DSM III?

Therapy. 1. Introduction. The official recognition of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) has prompted what is now a very considerable body of research into the psychology, biology, epidemiology, and treatment of the condition.

What is PTSD in the DSM?

1. Introduction. The official recognition of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) has prompted what is now a very considerable body of research into the psychology, biology, epidemiology, and treatment of the condition.

When was PTSD recognized?

The official recognition of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) has prompted what is now a very considerable body of research into the psychology, biology, epidemiology, and treatment of the condition.

Does PTSD affect memory?

In PTSD, a number of changes in memory functioning have been identified that are comparable with studies of depressed patients: There tends to be a bias toward enhanced recall of trauma-related material and difficulties in retrieving autobiographical memories of specific incidents (Buckley, Blanchard, & Neill, 2000). More specific to PTSD is a contradictory pattern of recall related to the traumatic material itself, similar to that found in studies of emotion and memory in nonclinical samples: In some studies, high levels of emotion are associated with more vivid and long-lasting memories (e.g., Brown & Kulik, 1977, Conway et al., 1994, Pillemer, 1998, Rubin & Kozin, 1984 ), while in others, they are associated with memories that are vague, lacking in detail, and error prone (e.g., Koss et al., 1996, Kuehn, 1974, Loftus & Burns, 1982 ).

What is dissociation in trauma?

“Dissociation” has sometimes been defined as any kind of temporary breakdown in what we think of as the relatively continuous, interrelated processes of perceiving the world around us, remembering the past, or having a single identity that links our past with our future (Spiegel & Cardeña, 1991). Mild dissociative reactions are common under stress, for example, being reported by 96% of soldiers undergoing survival training (Morgan et al., 2001). Dissociative symptoms most commonly encountered in trauma include emotional numbing, derealization, depersonalization, and ‘out-of-body’ experiences. They are related to the severity of the trauma, fear of death, and feeling helpless Holman & Silver, 1998, Morris et al., 2000, Reynolds & Brewin, 1999. It has been suggested that such reactions reflect a defensive response related to immobilization (“freezing”) in animals (Nijenhuis, Vanderlinden, & Spinhoven, 1998). In contrast to fight–flight reactions, in which heart rate normally increases, dissociation has been linked to a decrease in heart rate (Griffin, Resick, & Mechanic, 1997).

What is PTSD in psychiatry?

In short, potentially traumatic events include any threat, actual or perceived, to the life or physical safety of the individual or those around them. The unified diagnosis of PTSD regardless of the huge variation in origin events and frequency of experience is a much debated issue in the psychiatric community.

What is PTSD diagnosis?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as a condition that can develop after a person is exposed to a traumatic event or a life-threatening situation. The most widely used diagnostic manual is the current 5th edition of the ‘ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ’ ...

Is PTSD a disorder or a disorder?

The unified diagnosis of PTSD regardless of the huge variation in origin events and frequency of experience is a much debated issue in the psychiatric community. This study concerns PTSD in adults as a condition caused by a singular traumatic and abnormal event.

What is distressing memory?

Distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about or closely associated with the traumatic event (s) External reminders (i.e., people, places, conversations, activities, objects, situations) that arouse distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about , or that are closely associated with, the traumatic event (s)

What is a persistent negative emotion?

Persistent, distorted blame of self or others about the cause or consequences of the traumatic event (s) Persistent negative emotional state (e.g., fear, anger, guilt, or shame) Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities. Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others.

How common is PTSD?

The latest comprehensive survey of adult psychiatric conditions in England states that around 25–30% of people may develop PTSD after experiencing a traumatic event, 3% of adults screened positive for current PTSD, lifetime prevalence rates are between 1.9% and 8.8%, and only 28% of people with PTSD were receiving treatment for a mental or emotional problem.

Is trauma a mental illness?

The word trauma is used inconsistently within the mental health field, referring either to the traumatic event or to the effect of the event. Clinical guidelines indicate trauma as a brain injury to the psyche detrimental to a person’s biological health as well as to the psychological, emotional, and social well being.

What are the treatments for PTSD?

A number of psychological treatments for PTSD exist, including trauma-focused interventions and non-trauma-focused interventions. Trauma-focused treatments directly address memories of the traumatic event or thoughts and feeling related to the traumatic event.

What is the APA for PTSD?

In 2017, the Veterans Health Administration and Department of Defense (VA/DoD) and the American Psychological Association (APA) each published treatment guidelines for PTSD, which are a set of recommendations for providers who treat individuals with PTSD.

Is PTSD a mental illness?

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic, often debilitating mental health disorder that may develop after a traumatic life event. Fortunately, effective psychological treatments for PTSD exist. In 2017, the Veterans Health Administration and Department of Defense (VA/DoD) and the American Psychological Association (APA) ...

What is PTSD in medical terms?

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic, often debilitating mental health disorder that may develop after a traumatic life event, such as military combat, natural disaster, sexual assault, or unexpected loss of a loved one .

Is PTSD a traumatic stressor?

In the initial formulation of PTSD, a traumatic stressor was defined as an event outside the range of usual human experience.

What is trauma focused CBT?

Trauma-focused CBT typically includes both behavioral techniques, such as exposure, and cognitive techniques, such as cognitive restructuring.

What is PTSD in psychology?

In the cognitive appraisal model of Janoff-Bulman (1992), PTSD is the consequence of the shattering of basic assumptions or models about ourselves or the self and the world.

What is the dual representation theory?

They proposed that trauma information is stored on two levels of memory, one on a conscious memory level called verbally accessible memories (VAMs) and one that is susceptible to cues but is unconscious called sit-uationally accessible memories (SAMs). Verbally accessible memories can be deliberately accessed and processed, perhaps, for example, in response to a therapist asking a client to talk about what they remember from a trauma. On the other hand, SAMs cannot be deliberately accessed but can be activated by cues.

Who is Mardi Horowitz?

Mardi Horowitz's Stress Response Syndrome. The psychiatrist Mardi Horowitz has been an integral part of the PTSD field for decades. His theoretical work was a critical component in the development of the DSM-III version of PTSD. Horowitiz's model of PTSD has its theoretical roots in Freudian and psychodynamic theory.

What is the cognitive appraisal model?

The core of this model rests on the idea that humans have basic ideas or mental models of the world and themselves in that world that allow them to plan, make decisions, react, and generally function.

What is the cognitive appraisal model of Janoff-Bulman?

In the cognitive appraisal model of Janoff-Bulman (1992), PTSD is the consequence of the shattering of basic assumptions or models about ourselves or the self and the world. There are three critical core assumptions that are affected with PTSD. The first assumption is that we are personally invulnerable or safe.

What is the meaning of emotion in psychology?

Emotions are central cognitive orienting or organizing constructs that adaptively reorganize a person's cognitive system in various and different ways to deal with changes in the internal and external environments. When this process goes awry, disorder or pathology ensues.

What is the difference between denial and intrusion?

Intrusion refers to the awareness of the traumatic stimuli, and denial refers to the lack of conscious acknowledgment. This process allows for the natural titration of traumatic stress, and ideally ends in integration and resolution. Intrusion periods involve symptoms of reexperiencing and hyperarousal.

How many sessions of CBT are needed for PTSD?

CBT targets current problems and symptoms and is typically delivered over 12-16 sessions in either individual or group format. This treatment is strongly recommended for the treatment of PTSD.

What is the goal of trauma education?

The goal is to return a sense of control, self-confidence, and predictability to the patient, and reduce escape and avoidance behaviors. Education about how trauma can affect the person is quite common as is instruction in various methods to facilitate relaxation.

What is cognitive behavioral therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the relationship 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.

Is CBT effective for anxiety?

CBT has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder. In many studies, CBT has been demonstrated to be as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications.

How many sessions of CBT are there?

CBT targets current problems and symptoms and is typically delivered over 12-16 sessions in either individual or group format. This treatment is strongly recommended for the treatment of PTSD.

What is Horowitz's theory of PTSD?

His theoryhas roots in psychodynamically informed observations of normal and abnormal bereave-ment reactions, and in a long tradition emphasizing people’s development of individualassumptive worlds. Horowitz argued that when faced with trauma, people’s initialresponse is outcry at the realization of the trauma. A second response is to try toassimilate the new trauma information with prior knowledge. At this point, manyindividuals experience a period of information overload during which they are unableto match their thoughts and memories of the trauma with the way that they representedmeaning before the trauma. In response to this tension, psychological defense mechanismsare brought into play to avoid memories of the trauma and pace the extent to which it isrecalled. For example, the individual may be in denial about the trauma, feel numb, oravoid reminders of it. However, the fundamental psychological need to reconcile new andold information means that trauma memories will actively break into consciousness in theform of intrusions, flashbacks, and nightmares. These consciously experienced traumamemories provide the individual with an opportunity to try to reconcile them with pre-trauma representations.

What is PTSD associated with?

PTSD is associated with disturbances in a wide range of psychological processesincluding memory, attention, cognitive–affective reactions, beliefs, coping strategies, andsocial support. At present, it appears that what is most likely unique to PTSD, compared toother psychological disorders, are the unusual and inconsistent memory phenomenacentered on the event itself and the recruiting of a variety of dissociative responses. Incontrast, the findings concerning other processes have much in common with the results ofresearch on depression and other anxiety disorders, with which PTSD is frequentlycomorbid. It is clear that the emotions involved in PTSD are not by any means restrictedto fear, helplessness, and horror, or to what was actually experienced at the time of thetrauma. Beliefs, too, are not restricted to those concerning the event itself but may involvemuch more general aspects of the person, the social world, and the future. Theories ofPTSD, therefore, need to incorporate explanations of processes that are both specific toPTSD and more general, as well as processes that are relatively automatic (such ashelplessness and dissociation) or relatively strategic (such as individual appraisals andchoice of coping strategy).

What is dissociation in trauma?

‘‘Dissociation’’ has sometimes been defined as any kind of temporary breakdown in whatwe think of as the relatively continuous, interrelated processes of perceiving the world aroundus, remembering the past, or having a single identity that links our past with our future(Spiegel & Carden˜a, 1991). Mild dissociative reactions are common under stress, forexample, being reported by 96% of soldiers undergoing survival training(Morgan et al.,2001). Dissociative symptoms most commonly encountered in trauma include emotionalnumbing, derealization, depersonalization, and ‘out-of-body’ experiences. They are related tothe severity of the trauma, fear of death, and feeling helpless(Holman & Silver, 1998; Morris,

What is peri-traumatic dissociation?

When these symptoms occur in the course of a traumatic experience, they are referred to as‘peri-traumatic dissociation.’ At least seven prospective studies have assessed peri-traumaticdissociation shortly after a trauma and found it to be a good predictor of later PTSD(Ehlers,

What is emotional processing theory?

Emotional processing theory has a great deal of explanatory power and is extremelycomprehensive . It draws attention to many of the important aspects of PTSD that are likely tobe encountered within therapy and offers many valuable suggestions to clinicians about howto conceptualize these. For example, the observation that the rigidity of beliefs may beproblematic, regardless of whether the content of the beliefs is positive or negative, ispotentially very important and helps to resolve some difficulties with the theory of shatteredassumptions. The theory is associated with a highly effective treatment and also offers anextremely sophisticated account of the various mechanisms that may underlie the success oftreatment using prolonged exposure.

Is trauma memory an ordinary memory?

In contrast to the proposal of fear network theories that a traumatic memory is an ordinarymemory that has a particular structure (more response elements, stronger inter-elementassociations, etc.) is the idea that trauma memories are represented in a fundamentally distinct

What is dual representation theory?

Dual representation theory addresses a number of specific observations about PTSD that arehard to explain under the assumption of a single memory system. It attempts to includeobservations made by both social-cognitive and information-processing perspectives within anoverarching framework that explicitly differentiates cognitive processes happening during thetrauma from the more extensive appraisals that occur afterwards. Among the implications arethat images, appraisals, and emotions occurring peri-traumatically are processed in a way thatis more automatic, more influenced by previous associations, and less consciously accessiblethan when these same mental contents occur posttrauma. These changes in processing are inturn reflected in the differential recruitment of image-based and verbal memory systems. Theimage-based system initially supports flashbacks but can be suppressed by involving the VAMsystem in creating detailed representations of the trauma that are preferentially retrieved.Although unlike emotional processing theory or Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model, thetheory is not linked to a detailed outline of therapeutic procedures, it does have severalimplications for therapy. One is that there is a fundamental distinction between those aspectsof therapy aimed at abolishing flashbacks, which rely on relatively automatic processesarising from the increased hippocampal processing of retrieval cues, and those aimed atcorrecting negative appraisals, which rely on explicit verbal reasoning. Another implicationarises from the idea that recovery involves the creation of alternative and more benignrepresentations in memory that are preferentially retrieved. According to this approach, thenew representations do not have to be more accurate or contain corrective information; theyonly have to be more memorable. In this way, the theory is able to account for theeffectiveness of imagery rescripting and other procedures that are not concerned withveridicality but aim to block intrusive images by creating more benign alternatives.The focus of the theory is mainly on memory, emotion, and appraisal, and there is littlediscussion of other important features of PTSD such as increased conditionability oremotional numbing. Dissociative responses do not receive any detailed treatment and areonly discussed in terms of their potential to interfere with encoding into the VAM systemduring the trauma, thus increasing the risk of later PTSD. One useful aspect of the theory hasbeen to facilitate links with recent advances in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuro-science and to generate a number of unique predictions. There is some preliminary supportfor the model derived from clinical and analogue studies that tends to support the role ofimage-based or visuospatial processes in representing trauma and to suggest that these aredissociable from verbal trauma memories. A great deal more research is necessary, however,before the basic tenets of the theory can be regarded as supported.

What is the theory of PTSD?

A cognitive theory of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is proposed that assumes traumas experienced after early childhood give rise to 2 sorts of memory, 1 verbally accessible and 1 automatically accessible through appropriate situational cues.

What is PTSD in psychology?

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common reaction to traumatic events. Many people recover in the ensuing months, but in a significant subgroup the symptoms persist, often for years. A cognitive model of persistence of PTSD is proposed.

What is posttraumatic avoidance?

Engaging in posttraumatic avoidance behaviors after a traumatic incident is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) outcomes . Given the inherent limitations in the scope of the two‐item assessment of posttraumatic avoidance used in commonly administered measures of PTSD symptoms, the 25‐item Posttraumatic Avoidance Behaviour Questionnaire (PABQ) was developed to assess a range of avoidance behaviors, including avoidance of visual and sensory reminders, trauma‐related thoughts, and agoraphobia, as well as avoidance related to the home, sleep, and social interaction. However, the PABQ's utility is limited by its lack of (a) construct validity and (b) validation in diverse samples. To address these limitations, we examined the psychometric properties of PABQ scores in a sample of trauma‐exposed Black women (N = 601, M age = 41 years). Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the original seven‐factor model fit the data well when Item 8 was excluded, χ2 (231, N = 602) = 497.86, RMSEA = .04, 90% CI [.04, .05], CFI = .99, TLI = .989, WRMR = .939, but reliability estimates were variable (i.e., Cronbach's αs = .70–.91). In addition, we found support for convergent validity, clinical validity, and incremental validity. These results provide evidence for the psychometric strengths of the PABQ in minority samples and suggest that it is a valid assessment of posttraumatic avoidance in Black women.

What is PTSD amnesia?

A cardinal feature of Post-traumatic stress-related disorder (PTSD) is a paradoxical memory alteration including both intrusive emotional hypermnesia and declarative/contextual amnesia . Most preclinical, but also numerous clinical, studies focus almost exclusively on the emotional hypermnesia aiming at suppressing this recurrent and highly debilitating symptom either by reducing fear and anxiety or with the ethically questionable idea of a rather radical erasure of traumatic memory. Of very mixed efficacy, often associated with a resurgence of symptoms after a while, these approaches focus on PTSD-related symptom while neglecting the potential cause of this symptom: traumatic amnesia. Two of our preclinical studies have recently demonstrated that treating contextual amnesia durably prevents, and even treats, PTSD-related hypermnesia. Specifically, promoting the contextual memory of the trauma, either by a cognitivo-behavioral, optogenetic or pharmacological approach enhancing a hippocampus-dependent memory processing of the trauma normalizes the fear memory by inducing a long-lasting suppression of the erratic traumatic hypermnesia.

Is psychosis related to PTSD?

Background: Psychosis can be a sufficiently traumatic event to lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous research has focussed on the trauma of first episode psychosis (FEP) and the only review to date of PTSD beyond the first episode period is potentially outdated. Methods: We searched electronic databases and reference lists using predetermined inclusion criteria to retrieve studies that reported prevalence rates and associated factors of psychosis-related PTSD across all stages of the course of psychosis. Studies were included if they measured PTSD specifically related to the experience of psychosis. Risk of bias was assessed using an adapted version of the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Results were synthesised narratively. Results: Six papers met inclusion criteria. Prevalence estimates of psychosis-related PTSD varied from 14% to 47%. Studies either assessed first-episode samples or did not specify the number of episodes experienced. Depression was consistently associated with psychosis-related PTSD. Other potential associations included treatment-related factors, psychosis severity, childhood trauma, and individual psychosocial reactions to trauma. Conclusions: Psychosis-related PTSD is a common problem in people with psychosis. There is a lack of published research on this beyond first episode psychosis. Further research is needed on larger, more generalizable samples. Our results tentatively suggest that prevalence rates of psychosis-related PTSD have not reduced over the past decade despite ambitions to provide trauma-informed care. Prospero registration number: CRD42019138750

What should future research focus on?

Future research should focus on broader concepts such as the victim's perception of, and interaction with, their social environment, and on the objective factors of social interaction, in addition to intrapersonal processes of posttraumatic recovery. ...

What is IR in social anxiety?

Background Imagery rescripting (IR) is an effective intervention for social anxiety disorder (SAD) that targets autobiographical memories of painful past events. IR is thought to promote needs fulfillment and memory updating by guiding patients to change unhelpful schema through addressing the needs of the younger self within the memory.Methods Qualitative coding was used to examine the features of clinically relevant strategies enacted during IR to fulfill needs and update memories in 14 individuals with SAD.ResultsParticipants typically enacted multiple strategies to address the needs of the younger self during rescripting, with compassionate and assertive strategies used more frequently than avoidance. Most strategies were practically feasible and enacted by the imagined self rather than imagined others, with the majority of patients achieving a strong degree of needs fulfillment, especially when strategies were consistent with identified needs. Participants’ reflections on how their memories have changed are provided from follow-up data collected 6 months post-intervention. Themes of self-reappraisal, self-compassion, and self-distancing are highlighted as potentially important for facilitating needs fulfilment and memory updating.Conclusions Findings illuminate the clinical processes through which socially traumatic memories in SAD may be updated in IR by guiding patients to fulfill their needs and promote improved emotional health.