[When should psychological trauma be treated?]

Guillaume Vaiva (1) , Philippe Lestavel , François Ducrocq

1 LNFP - Laboratoire de Neurosciences Fonctionnelles et Pathologies

Early assessment is essential for subjects exposed to a potentially traumatic event. Symptoms of peritraumatic distress are often predictive of later posttraumatic stress disorders and should be treated promptly. Posttraumatic stress disorders should be treated rapidly, before they become chronic. It is also necessary to consider the frequent comorbidities: psychosomatic features, addictive disorders, and especially posttraumatic depression. Attempted suicide is 15 times more common in people with psychological trauma than in the general population. Posttraumatic stress disorders that have lasted several years become resistant to treatment (pharmacological and psychotherapeutic).

Domaines: Neurosciences [q-bio.NC]

Guillaume Vaiva, Philippe Lestavel, François Ducrocq. [When should psychological trauma be treated?]. La Presse Médicale, 2008, 37 (5 Pt 2), pp.894-901. ⟨10.1016/j.lpm.2008.01.018⟩. ⟨hal-00333431⟩