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- Inform patients and their families about common posttraumatic stress reactions as soon as possible after they experience a serious physical or psychological trauma.
- Advise patients about the potential for alcohol or drug abuse and increased interpersonal conflicts in the aftermath of a traumatic event.
- Make every effort to limit benzodiazepine use in individuals with recent traumatic stress.
- Avoid preventive counseling interventions or debriefing sessions for recently traumatized individuals.
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Inform patients and their families about common posttraumatic stress reactions as soon as possible after they experience a serious physical or psychological trauma.  |
- To minimize posttraumatic stress symptoms, discuss the fact that after a traumatic event normal individuals may experience symptoms for a short period such as:
- Nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Anxiety attacks
- Startle reactions
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Anger
- Depressed mood
- Guilt
- Poor appetite
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Advise patients about the potential for alcohol or drug abuse and increased interpersonal conflicts in the aftermath of a traumatic event. |
- Strongly urge patients to use alcohol in moderation only, avoid street drugs, and be aware of their own inner tension or irritability.
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Make every effort to limit benzodiazepine use in individuals with recent traumatic stress. |
- In the acute aftermath of a traumatic stressor, use nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics for sleep disturbances.
- Focus on non-drug interventions for other acute posttraumatic stress reactions.
- See Drug Therapy.
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Avoid preventive counseling interventions or debriefing sessions for recently traumatized individuals. |
- Do not refer traumatized individuals for counseling or debriefing sessions, which do not prevent PTSD.
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| Jeffrey P. Staab, MD, MS, is a consultant for Eli Lilly, Forest Laboratories, received honorarium from Abbott Laboratories, received grants from GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer. Michael Roy, MD, editorial consultant, received honorarium from PFizer. |
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The information included herein should never be used as a substitute
for clinical judgment and does not represent an official position of
ACP. Because all PIER modules are updated regularly, printed web pages
or PDFs may rapidly become obsolete. Therefore, PIER users should
compare the date of the last update on the website with any printout
to ensure that the information being referred to is the most current
available.
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PIER is copyrighted (c) 2008 by the American College of Physicians,
190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572, USA.
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
