Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

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What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness that occurs weeks or months after a severe, life-threatening event. This includes not only combat involving military personnel, but also civilian experiences. Such events also include captivity, man-made disasters, natural disasters, assaults, rape, and terrorist acts.

At the same time, a traumatic event can be experienced both directly and indirectly - for example, if a person witnesses a serious injury or death of others, or learns about a danger that has befallen loved ones.

How does PTSD manifest itself?

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition in which a person's psyche is stuck in the past. Even if the event has long passed, they return to it again and again in thoughts or dreams. The person is unable to "let go" of the situation, constantly reliving it.

Many people who suffer from PTSD:

does not share his experiences,
keeps everything within itself,
loses the ability to objectively assess one's condition,
isolates himself from communication,
reacts inadequately to ordinary stimuli - criticism, jokes, new information.

What can PTSD lead to?

The consequences of this condition can be serious:

depression, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders,
neuroses, aggressive or destructive behavior,
psychopathic reactions,
alcoholism and drug addiction.

About half or more of patients with PTSD also suffer from chronic pain. It is believed that psychological trauma and physical pain are linked by common pathophysiological mechanisms. Memories of the trauma can provoke pain, and vice versa - physical symptoms can activate the re-experiencing of the traumatic experience.

Does PTSD go away with time?

Unfortunately, many people experience symptoms for decades. It is known that even 20 years after a traumatic event, symptoms may not disappear, but rather worsen. Among veterans, PTSD is recorded in 15–20% of cases or more.

Epidemiological studies in the United States indicate that more than half of veterans also have major depressive disorder, which complicates diagnosis and treatment. It is accompanied by decreased mood, anhedonia (loss of the ability to feel pleasure), sleep disorders, concentration, and substance abuse.

Is there an effective treatment?

Despite the disabling nature of PTSD, traditional treatments have limited effectiveness. The most common treatments include:

psychotherapy , including trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing);
pharmacotherapy , for example, using SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) - paroxetine, sertraline.

However:

a significant proportion of patients do not respond to therapy;
medications have many side effects;
Studies show little difference between the effects of drugs and placebo.

The innovative approach of the Expio Center

The Expio Center develops and implements the latest approaches to the treatment of PTSD and depression based on an integrative multimodal method that combines work with the psyche, brain, and body.

Among the main tools:

ketamine therapy — affects both the psyche and pain,
trauma-focused psychotherapy,
transcranial electrical stimulation (TEC),
Neurohelp brain rehabilitation program,
vagus nerve stimulation,
stellate ganglion blockade.

Ketamine therapy, which affects both the psyche and pain mechanisms, is a particularly effective tool for treating and preventing post-traumatic stress and other consequences of psychological trauma. According to psychiatrist Dennis Charney, a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, “The data obtained are an excellent starting point that could lead to the development of new methods of protection against PTSD and stress-induced depressive behavior.”

Guided by the principles of holistic medicine, combining trauma-focused psychotherapy with ketamine infusions , transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) , Neurohelp brain rehabilitation , vagus nerve stimulation , stellate ganglion blockade , and other modern methods, it is possible to achieve significant improvements in the health of patients with PTSD.

What is ketamine therapy and how it is used to treat mental disorders in the military - in the material of Hromadsk Television.

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Therapy for people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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