Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Assessment and Treatment Considerations

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue addresses current methods of assessment and treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), since its diagnostic inception in 1980. The most recent hallmark of diagnostic evolution is noted with the publication of the 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5). PTSD first appeared in DSM-III in 1980 with 12 symptoms, in DSM-III-R in 1987 with 17; and finally, in the DSM-IV taxonomy for the longest standing 17-symptom structure from 1994 to 2013. The DSM-5 clinical trials empirically describe PTSD and symptom structure, expanding diagnostic veracity and directing our understanding for the future. PTSD treatment has equally evolved since 1980, with evidence-based exposure and cognitive treatments leading the way. A wide variety of treatments were implemented early on, examining the interventions we knew best: cognitive, typically used for depression and general anxiety; and exposure, used in phobias. Meta-analyses led the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) and the VA/DoD practice guidelines to recommend cognitive and exposure as first line treatments for PTSD. Great strides have been made in the dissemination of these two interventions, as well as the application of complimentary alternative methods for treating PTSD, through both individual and group delivery methods. Today’s picture of PTSD in diagnosis and treatment is quite different from that of 33 years past. The American Vietnam Veteran’s return from combat overwhelmingly called the system to task to assess and treat a previously unknown psychiatric disorder and the mental health research and treatment community responded, examining diagnostic presentation not only of combat-produced symptoms, but expanding to an understanding of all types of trauma; from questioning its existence to identifying strategies for prevention, evaluation, and effective treatment. This special issue pulls together articles on state-of-the-art assessments and treatments for PTSD in 2013 and the future.

Dr. Diane Castillo
Guest Editor

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