ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre

Highlights

•Psychometric properties of DSM-5 PCBD and ICD-11 PGD have not been previously compared.

•A three-factor model of PCBD and a two-factor model of PGD yielded acceptable fit.

•The prevalence of probable PCBD (6.4%) was significantly lower than PGD (18.0%).

•Predictive validity differed between PCBD and PGD.

•Findings provide preliminary evidence for the validity of PCBD and PGD.

The therapeutic application of human–animal interaction has gained interest recently. One form this interest takes is the use of service dogs as complementary treatment for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many reports on the positive effect of PTSD Service Dogs (PSDs) on veterans exist, though most are indirect, anecdotal, or based on self-perceived welfare by veterans. They therefore only give a partial insight into PSD effect.

Despite efforts to develop more effective therapies, PTSD remains a difficult disorder to treat. Insight into the dynamic nature of memory formation and its required molecular machinery can provide an opportunity to target pathological memories for emotionally arousing events. As memories become labile upon retrieval, novel information can update the strength and course of these consolidated memories. Targeting the process of reconsolidation may offer a relevant approach to attenuate fearful and traumatic memories.

Recently, a dissociative subtype of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been included in the DSM-5. This review focuses on the clinical and neurobiological features that distinguish the dissociative subtype of PTSD from non-dissociative PTSD. Clinically, the dissociative subtype of PTSD is associated with high PTSD severity, predominance of derealization and depersonalization symptoms, a more significant history of early life trauma, and higher levels of comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that can develop following exposure to or witnessing of a (potentially) threatening event.

A critical issue is to pinpoint the (neuro)biological mechanisms underlying the susceptibility to stress-related disorder such as PTSD, which develops in the minority of ~15% of individuals exposed to trauma. Over the last few years, a first wave of epigenetic studies has been performed in an attempt to identify the molecular underpinnings of the long-lasting behavioral and mental effects of trauma exposure.

Research showed that more than 30% of patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) do not benefit from evidence-based treatments: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). These are patients with prolonged and multiple traumatization, with poor verbal memory, and patients with emotional over-modulation. Retelling traumatic experiences in detail is poorly tolerated by these patients and might be a reason for not starting or not completing the recommended treatments.

Three and a half decades of research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has produced substantial knowledge on the pathobiology of this frequent and debilitating disease. However, despite all research efforts, so far no drug that has specifically targeted PTSD core symptoms progressed to clinical use. Instead, although not overly efficient, serotonin re-uptake inhibitors continue to be considered the gold standard of PTSD pharmacotherapy.

The number of children affected by natural disasters each year is alarmingly high and can be expected to rise as climate change continues. The mental consequences have been documented not only in the rates of post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder, but also for depression and other mental health problems.

Ways of dealing with bereavement and grief are influenced by the norms of one’s cultural identity. Cultural assessment of bereavement and grief is therefore needed for a comprehensive evaluation of grief-related psychopathology and for negotiating appropriate treatment. Cultural aspects of bereavement and grief include cultural traditions related to death, bereavement, and mourning as well as help seeking and coping.

The Traumatic Grief Inventory Self-Report version (TGI-SR) is an 18-item self-report measure. It was designed to assess symptoms of Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) included in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 and Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) proposed by an international group of experts in grief. The research in this article used data from a bereaved patient sample and people who lost loved ones in the Ukrainian airplane crash in July 2014.