Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

As a member of our team, you can help research treatments and solutions, expand the evidence base for effective solutions and help disseminate that information on PTSD.

At the same time, interest is increasing among researchers and clinicians in using complementary and alternative treatments, such as exercise, to enhance traditional mental health care and support a patient-centered approach to care. Veterans with PTSD frequently use these treatments and often rate them as enjoyable.

The researchers estimated the cost of PTSD at $232.2 billion for 2018, the latest year for which data were available at the time of the study. They called for increased awareness of PTSD, more effective therapies, and the expansion of evidence-based strategies to “reduce the large clinical and economic burden” of that mental health condition.

Clinical psychologist Pearl McGee-Vincent discusses trauma with Dr. Debra Kaysen, research scientist at the National Center for PTSD.

VE-HEROeS is the first nationwide survey of both the physical and mental health of Vietnam War Veterans in more than 30 years. It sought survey data from more than 45,000 Vietnam-era Veterans, as well as 11,000 matched controls.

While on deployment, Marino became confused, forgetful, angry, and depressed, and he struggled to perform his regular duties. “The depression took me to a very, very dark place, and I was quite ready to take my own life,” he said.

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Dr. Sarah Martindale, a research scientist at the W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina, and a member of VA’s Mid-Atlantic MIRECC (Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center), led the study. Dr. Jared Rowland, Dr. Anna Ord, and Lakeysha Rule, all of whom are also affiliated with the Salisbury VA and the Mid-Atlantic MIRECC, co-authored the paper.

Dr. Paula Schnurr, executive director of VA’s National Center for PTSD, was the lead author of the study, which was also the largest PTSD psychotherapy study to date in any population in the total number of participants: 916. The findings appeared in JAMA Network Open on Jan. 19, 2022.

In a double-blind trial, Krystal and his team will compare the drugs trazodone, eszopiclone, and gabapentin to placebo. All three contain sleep-inducing ingredients but work in different ways.

Now, VA investigators are examining the effectiveness of a clinical, trauma-sensitive yoga intervention to help women Veterans who experienced military sexual trauma (MST) and went on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A combination of telehealth coaching and web-based skills training can significantly improve clinical outcomes and social functioning for Veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST), says a VA study published in October 2021 in the Journal of Rural Health.