Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) With Therapy

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder. It can happen after you go through an extreme trauma, such as a car crash or combat. With PTSD, you constantly relive the trauma. This may be through nightmares, intrusive memories, and flashbacks. Treatments for PTSD include medicines and psychotherapies. Talk therapy (also called counseling) is a very helpful treatment for PTSD. Therapy with a trained professional helps you face and learn to manage your problem. It may take some time before you notice how much therapy is helping. But stick with it.

CBT teaches you to manage anxiety. It does this by helping you understand how you think and act when you're anxious. Research has shown that this treatment works very well for anxiety disorders. This includes PTSD. CBT is run almost like a class. It involves homework and skill-building activities. They teach you to cope with anxiety step by step. CBT can be done in a group. Or it can be one-on-one. It often takes place for a set number of sessions. CBT has two main parts:

• Cognitive therapy. This helps you identify the negative, irrational thoughts that occur with your anxiety. You'll learn to replace these with more positive, realistic thoughts.
• Behavioral therapy. This helps you change how you react to anxiety. You'll learn coping skills and relaxation methods. These will help you deal with anxiety in a whole new way.

Other therapy methods may work better for you than CBT. Or you may move from CBT to another form of therapy as your treatment progresses. You may meet with a therapist by yourself or in a group. This depends on your needs. Therapy can also help you work through problems in your life that may be making your PTSD worse. This includes drug or alcohol abuse.

Exposure therapy helps you confront memories and situations you'd prefer not to remember. You work with a therapist to do this. It helps you learn that trauma-related memories aren't dangerous for you to remember. This type of therapy can include:

• Prolonged exposure.
• Written exposure.
• Imagery exposure.
• Virtual reality exposure.

Therapy will help you feel better and teach you new skills. These skills will help you manage anxiety long-term. But change doesn't happen right away. It takes a commitment from you. And treatment only works if you learn to face the causes of your anxiety. You might feel worse before you feel better. This can sometimes make it hard to stick with it. Remember that therapy works very well. The results will be worth it.

Anxiety and Depression Association of America at www.adaa.org

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) at www.nami.org

National Institute of Mental Health at www.nimh.nih.gov