(Why?) Evidence-Based Treatments for War-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

Any war increases at least twice the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in its victims. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects about 10% of car accident victims, half of the people who have experienced rape or war, and victims of violence. PTSD negatively affects the quality of life. It is associated with direct and indirect health costs. Any effort to treat and prevent PTSD with evidence-based methods is our obligation toward trauma victims and to professionals at an increased risk of job-related traumatization. In the paper, we will focus on three aspects. First – a rationale of decision making – the role of evidence in elaborating the intervention guidelines will be described. Second, an overview of evidence-based guidelines for the psychological help and for the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD will be presented, according to current NICE (National Institute of Care Excellence) and APA (American Psychological Association) and meta-analyses focusing on war-related trauma. The third part of the paper will be devoted to the prevention of PTSD in people who are exposed to professional, duty-related trauma – the data on the efficacy of preventive interventions together with a short description of the programs (on the example of “Effective performance under stress” program designed to prevent PTSD in firefighters and other professions).