Treatment of military-related post-traumatic stress disorder: challenges, innovations, and the way forward

David Forbes*, David Pedlar, Amy B. Adler, Clare Bennett, Richard Bryant, Walter Busuttil, John Cooper, Mark C. Creamer, Nicola T. Fear, Neil Greenberg, Alexandra Heber, Mark Hinton, Mal Hopwood, Rakesh Jetly, Ellie Lawrence-Wood, Alexander McFarlane, Olivia Metcalf, Meaghan O’Donnell, Andrea Phelps, J. Don RichardsonNicole Sadler, Paula P. Schnurr, Marie-Louise Sharp, James M. Thompson, Robert J. Ursano, Miranda Van Hooff, Darryl Wade, Simon Wessely

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)
906 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the common mental disorders in military and veteran populations. Considerable research and clinical opinion has been focused on understanding the relationship between PTSD and military service and the implications for prevention, treatment, and management. This paper examines factors associated with the development of PTSD in this population, considers issues relating to engagement in treatment, and discusses the empirical support for best practice evidence-based treatment. The paper goes on to explore the challenges in those areas, with particular reference to treatment engagement and barriers to care, as well as treatment non-response. The final section addresses innovative solutions to these challenges through improvements in agreed terminology and definitions, strategies to increase engagement, early identification approaches, understanding predictors of treatment outcome, and innovations in treatment. Treatment innovations include enhancing existing treatments, emerging non-trauma-focused interventions, novel pharmacotherapy, personalized medicine approaches, advancing functional outcomes, family intervention and support, and attention to physical health.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)95-110
Number of pages16
JournalInternational Review of Psychiatry
Volume31
Issue number1
Early online date2 May 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2019

Keywords

  • military
  • PTSD
  • trauma
  • treatment
  • veteran

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Treatment of military-related post-traumatic stress disorder: challenges, innovations, and the way forward'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this