Even with new treatments, few PTSD vets seek help

PTSD was only formally recognized as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980. Modern day treatments still focus on accessing and reprocessing traumatic memories. In 1981, Bay Area doctor Francine Shapiro developed a new therapy called EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. The treatment combines physical stimulation and talk therapy. “You ask the person to identify the image that has been bothering them and the thoughts that have been bothering them,” says Doctor Shapiro. Then you add bilateral stimulation: “Either taps or tones or eye movement, generally. All this together helps to activate the brain's information processing system, and then you just allow the brain to go wherever it needs to go. You allow whatever associations that need to come up, come up.” [Excerpt]

Other

English

Sam Harnett

Harnett, S. (2012, November 12). Even with new treatments, few PTSD vets seek help. KALW, San Francisco, CA. Retrieved from http://www.kalw.org/post/even-new-treatments-few-ptsd-vets-seek-help on 12/10/212