Psychiatrist Said Therapy Has High Success Rate For Curing Ptsd

[Richie]

And he used the word "cure" sure enough. I wish I knew what data he was referring to.

It "can" commo...

I would be very interested in this CLAIM being challenged and validated. From a science perspective, this is a huge claim to make and all claims MUST be evidenced. So where is this evidence?

for the sake of the people on this website (and of course other sufferers), I would to see this claim being true but as a science student who is basing projects on PTSD, I have not come across anything that suggests there is a cure for this condition. I think there may be a moral reason to build hope but if it is false hope then it sounds like it could be more damaging in the long run. I personally take the (general) view that low expectations lead to good news (at times) and high expectations lead to bad news. I would rather be pleasantly surprised than bitterly disappointed. Maybe I will find some magic beans during my future career but right now I am unaware of anyone finding any.
I agree with views already shared here. This is psychology and every patient is different from every other patient. I personally do not believe there will ever be a "one size fits all" solution in any area of this science due to the amount of variables involved. We are all unique!

 

[void]

@anthony :)

re: your comment....

"The majority, statistically based, fully recover PTSD with no further signs or symptoms.

You only need to meet a criterion A event and experience symptoms for a month to be diagnosed. Most diagnosed with PTSD are at the lower scale, hence the majority fully recover. It is normal to fully recover as the majority."


Question: Do you happen to know what percentage of ppl become chronic?


I know a large number of diagnosable cases do recover in a relatively brief period, as you've said, but I've never found the percentage of those who don't.

......and, of course, there are also ppl WITH a trauma history that NEVER develop PTSD symptoms of any kind.

I find it easy to lose sight of the fact that, of all humans that experience 1 or more traumatic events, those who develop any symptoms at all are the exception and those with lifelong PTSD are rare.

 

[void]

:laugh:

Ty for the "Like", @anthony:happy: , but the purpose of my post was to ask you this..........."Question: Do you happen to know what percentage of ppl become chronic?"

I am hoping for an answer, if you or anyone else happens to know the answer.:happy:

Sry if I was unclear.:oops:

 

[anthony]

Question: Do you happen to know what percentage of ppl become chronic?

No. Additionally, they don't use chronic so much... as you could technically use chronic for everyone with PTSD on the proviso that it typically returns with further trauma once obtained.

Statistics for PTSD are near impossible to nail down accurately. Very roughly, figures are along the lines of:

• 60% fully recover in 3 - 6 months
• 20% fully recover in 6 - 12 months
• 13% can take numerous years
• 7% never fully recover and will experience debilitating symptoms the rest of their life.

There are many variations to those, and very dependent on the demographic applied, both race and trauma.

those who develop any symptoms at all are the exception

I wouldn't say that personally, I think its more whether the symptoms replicate or debilitate, which is what makes the difference. Nearly every person that you exposed to say... standing beside someone who is shot, would experience symptoms from that act. The difference is that a majority would process the event and move forward, symptoms subsiding, but for some, symptoms would run rampage, replicate, then debilitate.

Most symptoms are not standalone like people may think. Very few symptoms are original and stand by themselves. Most symptoms cause further symptoms.

It's like rumination (symptom) then causes > lack of sleep (symptom), which causes tired (symptom) and unable to concentrate (symptom), which causes mood (symptom).

There is always a root symptom, and there aren't many of those when you trace backwards for causation.

 

[anthony]

but the purpose of my post was to ask you this

I was writing it... patience please.

 

[void]

My sincere apologies, @anthony :sorry:

Thank you very kindly for your well articulated reply.

Peace to you and Nicolette.:happy:

 

[Abstract]

What I have wondered is if delayed onset makes recovery more unlikely/difficult. It seems to me personally, as I learn more about how I have functioned internally, that the processes stopping reactions at the time and allowing me to continue functioning seem to be the exact same ones making this more difficult to shift. Even very intense near complete denial is one.

Whenever I see a sexual assault in a film or documentary and see the person in meltdown and distress after the contrast with my reactions is marked. If someone is reacting they are processing to a point and are likely to get assistance (sometimes). Whether they ask for it or not. Never thought these were important for me but am changing my mind.

It has started to occur to me that the things that made me seem unusually resilient/tough actually made me much less resilient in the long term. Dissociation included.

 

[heyheyhey]

I went to see my psychiatrist today, and he said that the data shows that therapy has a good chance of...

Which approach is he using :)? Out of curiosity.

Both my Somatic Experiencing therapists say something like this. One smiled when I asked him if he thought PTSD could be healed/I could see an end to symptoms and I recounted the expert opinion it wasn't curable, he smiled and said I was reading the wrong books. The other one told me his car accident, that caused him to develop PTSD was the best thing that ever happened to him.

I don't believe it is curable, but I believe with the right therapy it can be manageable. Peter Levine, who founded it, said that symptoms can be eradicated or greatly reduced, but that they can come back again - in which case you just apply the therapies again, or do it ongoingly, which is also what my SE therapist said. He said the therapy would heal the past trauma but that new stresses can lead me to act in the same way/see the same symptoms; so I must find practices that can help me navigate the stressors and traumas of life and not see a return to the old ways.

What I think is that it's all a matter of semantics, and that when people say cure they don't mean cure - either they mean you can get ride of symptoms/take them to a level where you are not severely affected, or they don't understand that PTSD can change your brain and leave you susceptible in the future - so they THINK they are cured when they aren't, they just don't have symptoms.

I guess, we shouldn't get too caught up in the language, but maybe see hope in the therapies that can eradicate or greatly reduce symptoms? Isn't hope what keeps us alive with PTSD?

I personally feel like for me it is the battle to accept that i will never be highly functioning like other people, in that I'm never going to be perfectly at ease, confident, happy etc etc, I will always have weak spots and resistances. It's trying to accept that and not buy into the salvation fantasy and not feel depressed when symptoms pop up again...but at the same time I am trying to believe in the approaches that suggest that healing trauma can provide us with greater growth, value, or meaning than living a normal life can.

I guess it's all about the balance of hope with acceptance. And finding meaning and peace despite suffering. Is the second possible? I don't know. But I am getting there with the first.

I also think we have to be careful, I really believe we can all see so much healing and growth from PTSD, to the point where we are living full and happy lives. But I think part of the effect of trauma is the hopelessness, despair, defeat, and dark cloud of pessimism it instills in us. So maybe we have X and Y trauma, and then we feel like we will never heal - it's going to make it harder and longer to heal, but it's still possible...

 

[Abstract]

What I have wondered is if delayed onset makes recovery more unlikely/difficult.

No pressure @anthony but if you have any input that would be great.

 

[anthony]

Delayed onset, to my knowledge, has no statistical correlation to any significant duration for recovery. According to most data I've read, they tend to claim that delayed onset is rare. So... no idea for significance.

 

[Abstract]

Thank you.

 

[Keming]

My s/o is a psychologist (it's not as convenient as it sounds). Re: CBT, he states CBT has some of the highest success rates of any therapy. However:
- Success is not guaranteed
- Not everyone responds to therapy
- Not everyone responds to particular therapies, such as CBT
- Since the severity of the condition varies from client to client, "success" is an inherently inaccurate term. If four people with mild anxiety benefit from CBT, but one person with bipolar and crippling anxiety fails, stating an 80% success rate may not be a valid assessment.

Suggested conclusion: it's more important that you try therapy, and take the chance that it helps, than not trying, and guaranteeing that it doesn't. Contrary to Yoda, there is Try.

Which I tell myself daily.