No description available.

No description available.

Affekten skam är en viktig aspekt som tidigare inte uppmärksammats i tillräckligt hög grad vid behandling av Posttraumatiskt stressyndrom (PTSD). Studien undersökte hur kliniskt verksamma terapeuter berättade: att skam vid PTSD till följd av interpersonellt trauma tog sig uttryck, hur de arbetat med affekten skam i behandling, samt hur de påverkats av klienters skam i terapin. Sex terapeuter intervjuades och en abduktiv tematisk analys av intervjuerna genomfördes. Viktiga aspekter gällande skam i behandling lyftes fram, där klientens frivillighet och kontroll i behandlingen, samt ett aktivt utmanande av klientens perspektiv betonades. Resultatet skildrade även hur skam kan utgöra både ett hinder och ett verktyg i terapin. Studien bidrar till att belysa skammens betydelse vid behandling av PTSD efter interpersonellt trauma samt vikten av terapeuters medvetna förhållningssätt till skam för att denna inte ska utgöra ett hinder i terapiprocessen.

Veterans are at increased risk for developing mental illnesses because of separation from families, distressing experiences in the military, and previous injury to the brain. Approximately 30% of U.S. veterans returning from war suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The incidence of acute PTSD is reduced when victims are aware of the condition and its associated factors. Through education and screening, the project bridged the gap between deployment of military veterans and treatment of PTSD in this population by addressing whether screening veterans and providing an educational process affected veterans' early PTSD recognition and treatment. The project study addressed the impact of staff education on identifying undiagnosed PTSD among veterans at the project site. The project was guided by the adult learning theory that was applied to fit the self-efficacy model. Data collection included screening of 99 veterans by clinic staff members using the PTSD checklist. Staff members also completed pretests and posttests before and after the education program. Results indicated that staff members demonstrated increased knowledge of the PTSD from pretest (50%) to posttest (93%). Of the veterans screened in the project, 30(30%) tested positive for PTSD and were referred to psychiatrists for treatment and medication to ameliorate the symptoms. Findings may be used to encourage implementation of PTSD screening and education in health care organizations ensuring positive social change by veterans suffering from PTSD and the care they need early in the progression of PTSD development.

Komplex PTSD har tidigare gått under samma kriterier och riktlinjer för behandling som PTSD, men togs 2018 in som en egen diagnos efter att WHO gjort revideringar inför utgåvan ICD-11. I Sverige finns ännu inga specifika riktlinjer för behandling av komplex PTSD. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur psykoterapeuter uppfattar patienter med komplex PTSD, om och i så fall hur de anpassar behandlingsinterventioner till patientgruppen. Sju erfarna psykoterapeuter intervjuades. Rekrytering av deltagare skedde via egna arbetsrelaterade kontakter, som i sin tur kunde ge förslag om kvalificerade deltagare. Psykoterapeuterna intervjuades utifrån en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Tematisk analys applicerades på intervjumaterialet, vilket mynnade ut i sju huvudteman. Resultaten visade att psykoterapeuterna såg tydlig skillnad mellan patienter med PTSD och patienter med komplex PTSD, i enlighet med differentieringen i ICD-11. Dissociation beskrevs också som ett framträdande symtom och som behandlingen behöver inriktas mot. Psykoterapeuterna beskrev att de i terapiprocessen anpassade och modifierade interventioner och var följsamma inför patienternas behov. Psykoterapiprocessen beskrevs i termer av “pendling” och “spiraler” snarare än sekventiellt med stabiliseringsfas, exponeringsfas och integreringsfas i en följd. Studiens resultat stämmer överens med förslag från ny forskning som rekommenderar en flexibel patientcentrerad multi-komponentbehandling som inriktas på de specifika symtomklustren vid komplex PTSD. Att arbeta i team beskrevs av psykoterapeuterna som en viktig bidragande faktor till kompetensutveckling samt ökade deras förmåga att använda verksamma metoder i arbetet med patienter med komplex PTSD. / The diagnosis complex PTSD has previously been subject to the same criteria and guidelinesfor treatment as PTSD. Complex PTSD was introduced in 2018 as its own diagnosis, when theWHO made revisions for the release of ICD-11. In Sweden, there are no specific guidelines forthe treatment of complex PTSD. The purpose of this study was to investigate howpsychotherapists perceive patients with complex PTSD and how they adapt treatmentinterventions to the patient group. Seven experienced psychotherapists were interviewed.Recruitment of participants was done via strategic selection. The psychotherapists wereinterviewed from a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic analysis was applied to theinterview material, which resulted in seven main themes. The results showed thatpsychotherapists saw a clear difference between PTSD and complex PTSD, as described in ICD-11. They also described dissociation as a prominent symptom. The psychotherapistsdescribed that they adapted and modified interventions and were keen to be compliant with theneeds of patients. The therapeutic process was described in terms "spirals" rather thansequentially. The study's findings are consistent with suggestions from new researchrecommending a flexible patient-centered multi-component treatment that targets the specificsymptom clusters of complex PTSD. Working in teams was described as an important contributing factor to competence development and increased the potential to use active methods with patients with complex PTSD.

No description available.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of warfare exposure and unit cohesion on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology among male and female National Guard and Reserve service members deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. National Guard and Reserve soldiers and female service members have been shown to be at greatest risk of psychological distress, and thus identification of resiliency factors among this population is worthy of further study. An emerging body of research has identified unit cohesion as a potentially modifiable protective factor against the deleterious effects of warfare exposure; however, such research is in its early stages, with female service members consistently reporting less unit cohesion than male service members. National Guard and Reserve soldiers (N = 463; 418 men and 45 women) age 19 to 59 were assessed on measures of warfare exposure, PTSD symptomatology, and degree of unit cohesion immediately following deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Results demonstrated that greater exposure to warfare was associated with more severe PTSD symptoms for both men and women. Specifically, combat experiences involving the threat of direct attack or personal injury tended to occur together and were the most significant risk factors for increased PTSD symptomatology. In addition, female service members in our sample reported significantly lower levels of unit cohesion than male service members, a finding that is consistent with the nascent research on gender differences in cohesion. Although the current study did not find greater unit cohesion to be a buffer against the effects of warfare exposure on PTSD severity, there was a direct effect: greater unit cohesion was associated with less PTSD symptomatology above and beyond the effects of demographic control variables. This relationship held for both male and female service members. Future research should aim to establish causality by examining these constructs longitudinally, with a focus on uncovering the mechanisms by which unit cohesion may lead to fewer PTSD symptoms.

Thesis advisor: Elizabeth A. Kensinger / Though people tend to remember emotional information with extreme vividness, this vividness often comes at the cost of memory for surrounding information. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate this memory trade-off and how it is influenced by focused attention, trait anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In each study, participants were shown composite pictures that included an emotional or neutral item placed on a neutral background. Later, they were shown the same items and backgrounds separately. A memory trade-off occurred when participants were more likely to remember emotional items and forget the associated backgrounds as compared to equivalent memory for neutral items and backgrounds. The results from the first chapter revealed that the amount of overt visual attention on an emotional item did not predict the presence of the memory trade-off. However, when it was task relevant to disengage one's attention from the emotional item, the memory trade-off was dampened. Further, dividing attention had no effect on the memory trade-off. The results of the second chapter demonstrated that the memory trade-off was enhanced for emotional items with high levels of arousal as compared to low arousal items. This enhancement was especially strong for individuals with high trait anxiety, when this information was negative and arousing, and when the scene was remembered with a sense of familiarity. Further, for items and backgrounds that were vividly recollected, individuals with higher levels of anxiety were less likely to be able to modulate the memory trade-off, even when it was task relevant to attend to background information. The third chapter revealed that people with PTSD have a larger memory trade-off for both positive and negative information, despite the lack of overall item memory differences. These studies reveal that attention may not be the only factor that influences the memory trade-off and that the memory trade-off may be influenced by trait anxiety and PTSD. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.

The essay explored the connection between the deviation of the children’s behavioral patterns and the theory of psychoanalysis. Texts by Klein and Freud and also adaptations of their theories by Mangs, Martell and Salzberg-Wittenberg were used to explore whether the characters followed the developmental stages according to psychoanalysis. Through a comparison between the records of the characters’ behavior with diagnostic material regarding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder composed by the American Psychiatric Association, the conclusion was drawn that the result of the analysis points towards the fact that the deviation in the behavioral patterns of the children was a result of the traumatic events that took place around them.

The associated features, high rates of comorbidity and chronicity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) raise questions regarding the distinctiveness of the two disorders. The present study expands upon previous literature by providing an investigation of clinical features across two groups: PTSD only and comorbid PTSD and BPD in a sample of male veterans (n=178). Results suggest that the two groups were distinct, with the comorbid group displaying higher levels of depression, hostility, alcohol use and general psychopathology. Groups did not differ on rates of personal trauma, adult sexual abuse, childhood sexual abuse, attack, accident or disaster. The two groups did differ significantly on rates of childhood violence.