Psychological Trauma

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common condition that can affect anyone. Around 30% of people who experience a potentially traumatic event go on to develop PTSD. A large survey found that women are twice as likely to suffer PTSD and it can develop at any age, sometimes long after the original experience.

You may develop PTSD if you have experienced or witnessed events in which you felt extreme fear, horror or helplessness.  People we see have been in road traffic or other accidents, have been sexually or violently assaulted, had near death experiences, been involved in military combat or terrorist attack, or have experienced sexual or physical abuse as a child.

Symptoms of PTSD

If you have recently experienced a traumatic event, you may simply feel emotionally numb to begin with, and feelings of distress may not emerge straight away.  However, later you may develop emotional and physical reactions and changes in behaviour, that include:

• Nightmares or frightening thoughts, especially when you come across anything reminding you of the traumatic event.
• Re-living the experience of the traumatic event (“flashbacks”)
• Avoidance of reminders of the event and of talking about it
• Numbness and feeling alone or detached from others
• Inability to remember aspects of the traumatic event
• Decreased interest in life/feeling “down”
• Irritability or outbursts of anger
• Hyper vigilance and alertness to possible danger (“jumping” especially to sudden noises)
• Feelings of guilt or low confidence
• Problems with concentration and memory
• Problems with sleeping
• Drinking more alcohol
• Using non prescribed (or mis-using prescribed) drugs to help you cope
• Sweating, nervousness or panic
• Increased general health problems or symptoms - headaches, stomach upsets, dizziness, aches and pains.
• Employment problems

Many of these responses are a normal response to abnormal events and some people find their symptoms reduce in time. Some people improve without professional help, but rather with the support of friends and family, especially in the first few weeks. However, if your symptoms continue longer than a month you may be suffering from PTSD and could benefit from additional help. Some people may not develop post-traumatic symptoms until many years after the event, perhaps following a major life change or powerful reminder.

Psychological Therapy for PTSD

Most people we see have already talked with their doctor or solicitor about their symptoms and difficulties, and it has been suggested they might benefit from talking with an expert in trauma.

It is helpful for us to receive a written referral from your doctor or solicitor with some background information about you. We would then write to you and offer an appointment to meet with one of the trauma team for assessment. This may involve a second assessment appointment before agreeing a plan of action; which could be to continue with one of the psychological trauma therapies.  You may be offered eight to twelve sessions of psychological therapy (60-90 minutes each).  This would be appropriate for the majority of adults who have had a single traumatic incident such as a car accident, a violent physical assault or an accidental injury.

For individuals who have experienced traumatic events over a period of time, or for individuals where a “complex” trauma response is evident, a longer series of 20-30 psychological therapy sessions would be offered.  This would often be appropriate for victims of sexual violence such as rape, or adults who were sexually abused as children. This may also be appropriate for people whose recent traumatic experience has rekindled past unresolved trauma.

Inpatient therapy might be an option if staff and the individual concerned all think that is the best route to take.  It is expensive for individuals to fund themselves and it is often difficult to obtain support from a funding body, but we can advise you on how to explore that if it is necessary.

The therapeutic approaches we use include trauma-focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). These particular therapeutic approaches are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Clinical Guideline for PTSD (2005).  Further details of the therapies and research evidence are available at  www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG026NICEguideline.pdf

The Team

Dr Mark McFetridge - Consultant Clinical Psychologist/Head of Trauma Service
Dr Gill Smith - Consultant Psychiatrist
Dr Julia Coakes - Clinical Psychologist
Julie Kelly - CBT Therapist