Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Wiley Concise Guides to Mental Health)

Abstract

The author is a psychologist in private practice in California, USA, and also an adjunct professor at Chapman University, Orange County. The Wiley Concise Guides to Mental Health are a series of texts covering topics such as substance use disorders, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders. The aim of this paperback guide is to use clear language to provide an overview of the history, diagnosis, treatment, research, emerging trends and other critical information about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It describes its target audience as students, practising mental health professionals, emergency service providers, military personnel and others, who deal with traumatic situations and their aftermath. The book comprises 22 chapters organized in three sections. The first section deals with the theoretical and empirical foundations of PTSD, the second with its evaluation, assessment and treatment and the third section with more specialist areas such as PTSD in children, war, terrorism and torture. At the end of each chapter, there is a Quick Review where the content of the chapter is reiterated as a number of bullet points. The text is punctuated with case histories and boxed entries labelled as ‘alerts’ for professionals or lay people, where attention is drawn to ambiguous terminology or controversial material. The Quick Reviews provide very useful summaries and are an attractive feature of the text. The text is very readable and it fulfils the aim of the series editor to provide a condensed and comprehensive review of the topic. Although I assume that the book is targeted primarily at an American audience, it is easy to read, and there is little that is not relevant to a UK reader. I enjoyed dipping into the initial section, which explains clearly, and in depth, the theoretical basis of PTSD in terms of bio-psychosocial, cognitive and psychotherapeutic models. The most useful reference chapters for the occupational health physician are those on the assessment and treatment of PSTD. There is little mention, however, of PTSD in relation to work. Occupational health professionals who work with the emergency services or the military are likely to be disappointed if seeking practical advice on workplace management of the condition. I also doubt whether doctors in training, medical students, occupational medicine registrars or psychiatrists would choose it as a primary text on PTSD. But it covers much useful and interesting information, and it would be a good reference for the practising occupational health professional to keep in the library.