Given the scale of traumatic events globally–war, terrorism, natural disasters, interpersonal violence–there is a huge unmet need for widely-available and easily accessible interventions. However, what can be given to trauma victims suffering flashbacks in the first few weeks? Unfortunately, using talking therapy as a crisis intervention in the immediate aftermath of trauma has caused international clinical concern : interventions such as critical incidence stress debriefing can worsen rather than ameliorate later trauma symptoms. The psychological intervention with the strongest evidence-base for full-blown PTSD is trauma-focussed Cognitive Behaviour Therapy–a treatment which is only indicated when delivered weeks or months after the trauma. We have also raised clinical concern over treatment innovations stemming from exciting theoretical developments, but which advocate psychological approaches which promote the suppression of memory for traumatic experiences as way of dealing with negative sequelae, since suppression is clinically contra-indicated. For example, removing flashbacks at the expense of being able to deliberately remember what happened during a trauma could compromise a trauma victim's ability to testify in court. In addition to the potential for side-effects with pharmacological approaches, there are potential ethical concerns if voluntary memories for human experience are suppressed. Current interest in the manipulation of memories post-trauma is particularly focused on pharmacological means, for example, propranolol administration. For example, following a motor vehicle accident, a person may later experience intrusive flashbacks where in their mind's eye they suddenly see a vision of a looming car accompanied by the sound of crashing metal.Īlthough we have successful treatments for full-blown PTSD, crisis interventions to reduce the build up of symptoms in the early aftermath of trauma are lacking. A precursor and indeed the hallmark symptom of PTSD is vivid flashbacks to the trauma, that is, distressing, re-experiencing of the trauma in the form of intrusive, image-based, sensory-perceptual memories. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that can result from experiencing or viewing a traumatic event involving death, serious injury, or threat to self or others. That is, that the delivery of specific cognitive tasks may help ‘inoculate’ against the escalation of flashbacks after a traumatic event. We suggest that basic principles from cognitive science may be used to help develop an intervention for trauma flashbacks, and propose a ‘cognitive vaccine’ approach. We predicted that playing “Tetris” half an hour after viewing trauma would reduce flashback frequency over 1-week. Visuospatial tasks post-trauma, performed within the time window for memory consolidation, will reduce subsequent flashbacks. “Tetris”) will interfere with flashbacks. Visuospatial cognitive tasks selectively compete for resources required to generate mental images. The rationale for a ‘cognitive vaccine’ approach is as follows: Trauma flashbacks are sensory-perceptual, visuospatial mental images. Our theory is based on two key findings: 1) Cognitive science suggests that the brain has selective resources with limited capacity 2) The neurobiology of memory suggests a 6-hr window to disrupt memory consolidation. ![]() ![]() ![]() We propose the utility of developing a ‘cognitive vaccine’ to prevent PTSD flashback development following exposure to trauma. Although we have successful treatments for full-blown PTSD, early interventions are lacking. ![]() Flashbacks are the hallmark symptom of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |