Medications for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD can occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, or through early neglect which can lead to attachment trauma.
Typical traumatic experiences are childhood sexual abuse, childhood neglect, emotional and physical abuse, domestic violence, rape, military combat, accidents, acts of terrorism, illness, and complex grief.
PTSD has been known by many names in the past, such as “shell shock” during the years of World War I and “combat fatigue” after World War II. But PTSD does not just happen to combat veterans. PTSD treatment can benefit all people, people of any ethnicity, nationality, or culture, and any age.
PTSD affects approximately 3.5 percent of U.S. adults, and an estimated one in 11 people will be diagnosed with PTSD in their lifetime. Women are twice as likely as men to have PTSD.
Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Symptoms of PTSD fall into four categories. Specific symptoms can vary in severity.
- Intrusive thoughts such as repeated, involuntary memories; distressing dreams; or flashbacks of the traumatic event. Flashbacks may be so vivid that people feel they are reliving the traumatic experience or seeing it before their eyes.
- Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event may include avoiding people, places, activities, objects, and situations that bring on distressing memories. People may try to avoid remembering or thinking about the traumatic event. They may resist talking about what happened or how they feel about it.
- Negative thoughts and feelings may include ongoing and distorted beliefs about oneself or others (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted”); ongoing fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame; much less interest in activities previously enjoyed; or feeling detached or estranged from others.
- Arousal and reactive symptoms may include being irritable and having angry outbursts; behaving recklessly or in a self-destructive way; being easily startled, or having problems concentrating or sleeping.
Many people who are exposed to a traumatic event experience symptoms like those described above in the days following the event. For a person to be diagnosed with PTSD, however, symptoms last for more than a month and often persist for months and sometimes years.
Many individuals develop symptoms within three months of the trauma, but symptoms may appear later. For people with PTSD the symptoms cause significant distress or problems functioning. PTSD often occurs with other related conditions, such as depression, substance use, memory problems, and other physical and mental health problems.
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Trauma Therapy in Group Sessions
All patients at Castle Craig are screened for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder using the PTSD questionnaire and a full psychiatric assessment by our Consultant Psychiatrist.
Trauma Therapy at Castle Craig Hospital is undertaken by experienced, qualified trauma therapists. There is a trauma group in which participants learn ways of dealing with the psychological and physical effects of the trauma. Some patients may require individual trauma therapy. The therapies of choice are Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Both therapies are recognised as the gold standard by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence. As trauma memories are often held in the body, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy may also be used. Mindfulness is also practiced as this can teach people ways to regulate their arousal levels. Complementary therapies such as acupuncture and aromatherapy can be used to help the person relax.
The trauma treatment is holistic and helps the person re-process the trauma so that memories that are being re-experienced are processed into narrative, explicit memory rather than implicit and somatic memory. This means that these memories no longer intrude on daily life nor interfere with addiction treatment.
EMDR in the Treatment of PTSD
What is EMDR?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing, is an innovative treatment that helps patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to process negative memories and emotions that have been suppressed. It enables them to achieve their therapeutic goals rapidly, with recognisable changes that don’t disappear over time. EMDR emphasizes breathing retraining and muscle relaxation and may also include cognitive approaches and exposure techniques
EMDR makes it possible for patients to gain self-awareness and perspective, enabling them to choose how they respond to traumatic memories. Many controlled studies have shown that EMDR is a highly effective therapy in the treatment of PTSD.
How We Use EMDR in PTSD Treatment at Castle Craig
Prior to EMDR, the therapist assesses the patient’s readiness and suitability for EMDR and develops a treatment plan. All Castle Craig trauma therapists are trained through EMDR Europe to the required level to practice safely.
During a therapy session, patients are guided to revisit the traumatic event, consciously focusing on eye movements, sounds, and body sensations. This process can be complex if there are many experiences connected to negative thoughts and feelings. The EMDR therapy sessions continue until the traumatic memories and emotions are relieved.
EMDR treatment ensures the processing of all traumatic past events, current incidents that cause distress, and future scenarios that could induce a traumatic response. The overall goal is to produce the most comprehensive and profound treatment effects in the shortest period of time, while simultaneously maintaining a stable client within a balanced system.
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After EMDR processing, patients generally report that the emotional distress related to the memory has been eliminated, or greatly decreased and that they have gained important insights into their mental processes: perception, memory, judgement, reasoning, and behaviour. Importantly, these emotional and cognitive changes usually result in behavioural and personal changes.
Our Abuse and Trauma Consultant, Linda Hill, is highly qualified with considerable experience in this area and provides expert consultancy and supervision of staff.
As a trusted partner of Castle Craig, one of the UK’s leading residential addiction treatment centers, CATCH Recovery offers a seamless continuum of care for patients transitioning from residential treatment to outpatient care. This ensures that patients receive the best possible support and care throughout their recovery journey.
A Former Patient
‘I found the work with Linda very helpful and have no doubt it enabled me to let go of things from the past and helped me to replace feelings of anger, shame, and guilt with acceptance.’ – a former patient.