Posttraumatic stress disorder: current insights in diagnostics, treatment and prevention,Posttraumatische stressstoornis

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that may develop after traumatic events.- PTSD is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in the Netherlands, with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 7%.- Recurrent re-experiencing of the traumatic event is the most characteristic PTSD symptom.- Recognition of PTSD may be hampered by the heterogeneous symptomatology, avoidance to talk about the trauma and highly frequent comorbid psychiatric and somatic comorbidity.- Feelings of guilt and shame may also influence reported trauma history.- First choice treatment for PTSD is trauma-focused psychotherapy, which may be combined with pharmacotherapy.- In case of severe acute posttraumatic stress symptoms after a recent trauma, it is recommended to start early trauma-focused psychotherapy.- Neurobiological findings are increasingly applied in novel interventions to improve the treatment and prevention of PTSD.