Sequence matters: Combining Prolonged Exposure and EMDR therapy for PTSD

Objective Investigating the influence of the sequence in which two evidence-based trauma-focused treatments are offered to PTSD-patients. Methods PTSD-patients were treated using an intensive eight-day treatment program, combining Prolonged Exposure (PE) and EMDR therapy. Forty-four patients received a PE session in the morning and an EMDR session in the afternoon, while 62 patients received the reversed sequence (EMDR followed by PE). Outcome measures were PTSD symptom severity and subjective experiences. Results Patients who received PE first and EMDR second showed a significantly greater reduction in PTSD symptoms, patients preferred this sequence and valued the treatment sessions as significantly more helpful compared to patients in the EMDR-first condition. Conclusion Albeit explorative, PE and EMDR therapy can be successfully combined, but sequence matters. First applying PE sessions before EMDR sessions resulted in better treatment outcome, and better subjective patient's evaluations in terms of treatment helpfulness and preference

Commercial video games as therapy: a new research agenda to unlock the potential of a global pastime

Emerging research suggests that commercial, off-the-shelf video games have potential applications in preventive and therapeutic medicine. Despite these promising findings, systematic efforts to characterize and better understand this potential have not been undertaken. Serious academic study of the therapeutic potential of commercial video games faces several challenges, including a lack of standard terminology, rapidly changing technology, societal attitudes toward video games, and understanding and accounting for complex interactions between individual, social, and cultural health determinants. As a vehicle to launch a new interdisciplinary research agenda, the present paper provides background information on the use of commercial video games for the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental and other health conditions, and discusses ongoing grassroots efforts by online communities to use video games for healing and recovery

Additional file 1: of Changes in affect after completing a mailed survey about trauma: two pre- and post-test studies in former disability applicants for posttraumatic stress disorder

Supplementary material: eFigure. “Mean Change in Affect by Affective Score Change Category.” (DOCX 105 kb

Experiences with VHA care: a qualitative study of U.S. women veterans with self-reported trauma histories

Abstract Background Women veterans in the United States, particularly those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a history of military sexual assault, have unique health care needs, but their minority status in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has led to documented healthcare disparities when compared to men. This study’s objective was to obtain a richer understanding of the challenges and successes encountered by women veterans with self-reported service-related trauma histories (particularly those with a history of military sexual assault and/or posttraumatic stress symptomology) receiving VHA care. Methods Thirty-seven female Vietnam and post-Vietnam (1975–1998) era veterans were randomly selected from a cohort of PTSD disability benefit applicants to complete semi-structured interviews in 2011–2012. Grounded-theory informed procedures were used to identify interview themes; differences between veterans with and without a history of military sexual assault were examined through constant comparison. Results At the time of the interviews, many women believed that VHA was falling short of meeting women veterans’ needs (e.g., lack of women-only mental health programming). Also common, but particularly among those with a military sexual assault history, was the perception that VHA’s environment was unwelcoming; being “surrounded by men” yielded emotions ranging from discomfort and mistrust to severe anxiety. A few veterans reported recent positive changes and offered additional suggestions for improvement. Conclusions Findings suggest that while at the time of the interviews gains had been made in the delivery of gender-sensitive outpatient medical care, women veterans with a history of military sexual assault and/or posttraumatic stress symptomology perceived that they were not receiving the same quality of care as male veterans

Pre-Printed Versus Handwritten Post-It Notes’ Impact on Survey Response in Hard to Recruit Survey Recipients: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Veterans with PTSD Disability

Our goal was to see if affixing pre-printed Post-it note messages to a mailed survey would generate response rates similar to when handwritten Post-it notes were used in hard to recruit survey recipients. The study was a nested, randomized controlled trial of 575 individuals from a cohort of 2,100 United States Veterans with PTSD disability. Analysis was intention-to-treat. Survey response rate was 38.5% in the pre-printed Post-it note arm and 44.9% in the handwritten Post-it note arm (p = 0.09). In non-inferiority testing, pre-printed notes’ response rate exceeded the 10% margin of inferiority but was less than the 15% margin when compared to handwritten notes