Please click here to log in with you RCPsych web account details; you will be redirected back to CPD Online.If you have forgotten your College web account details, you will be able to reset them here.
Please click here to log in if your institution has a subscription to CPD Online with Athens access.
Please click here to log in if you are subscribed through Medicom Netherlands.
If you having troubles signing in with the options above, please try this alternative login route.
by Professor Jonathan Bisson and Dr Stuart Turner
Last updated: April 2019
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was first included as a diagnostic term in DSM-III in 1980, although under other names (e.g. traumatic neurosis), it has a much longer history in European psychiatry. It is now widely recognised as a major cause of distress and suffering following traumatic events.
Common symptoms of PTSD include recurring recollections or dreams related to the traumatic event, avoidance and numbing, and hypervigilance. Recent reviews have consistently recommended trauma-focused psychological therapies as a first-line treatment for PTSD, although pharmacological treatments have also been found to be effective in some cases.
This module will introduce some of the different biological, psychological and social models of PTSD in adults. It will also provide up-to-date information on the epidemiology of PTSD and outline steps to help prevent and treat the condition.
Start the module
If you like this module, you may also be interested in:
Quickbite: Complex PTSD in children and adolescents by Dr Margaret DeJong and Dr Jacob Ellis
Armed forces and mental health: Part 1 – mental healthcare in military service by Professor Neil Greenberg, Dr Paul Lewis, Dr Elizabeth Anne Braidwood and Dr Elizabeth Hunt
An introduction to cognitive-behavioural therapy by Dr Chris Williams and Dr Rebeca Martinez
Pharmacological management of anxiety disorders by Dr Zia Nadeem and Dr Allan Scott
Related Advances articles
Download take-home notes to print and annotate