Globally, 5 out of 100 adults are diagnosed with PTSD yearly, with high prevalence among women (Ptsd.va.gov, n.d.). PTSD is linked to traumatic events in one’s lifetime experiences. Being at risk of PTSD involves experiencing traumatic events that are shocking and dangerous; such events include pandemics, loss of loved ones, impacts of natural disasters, or incidences of sexual assault. There has been a population projection in which about a fifth of the population are victims of the disorder. Different treatment exists to deal with the condition, with a combined approach to treatment being a better solution. Although many treatment mechanisms exist to contain post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), using a combined treatment approach is effective because it isolates all the gaps in the profile of treatment and behaviour. Moreover, the accruing benefits of adopting and applying a combined treatment are benefited both the patients and the therapists since there is considerable neutralization of the adverse effects of relying on a single intervention strategy.
The prevalence of PTSD defines the choice of treatment available for use. The combined treatment approach continues to prove its effectiveness in eliminating the gaps and challenges of the previously used PTSD treatment methods. While methods such as cognitive therapy and EMDR or Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing have been used previously in managing this condition, these methods were characterized by a wide range of challenges, thus hindering effective treatment in some cases. Effective treatment and attention are vital in post-traumatic situations, such as stress symptoms that are likely to lead to lower quality of life, increased chances of the risk to self-harm, and suicidal motives; such trends, which are all associated with PTSD, are shown in studies to follow events such as pandemics, natural disasters, and instances of loss-of-lives especially of loved ones. According to Idoiaga et al. (2022), the Covid-19 pandemic forced a large population into stress and anxiety, indicating counselling as the best therapy to have been applied at the time. The different ways in which individuals respond to stressful events, therefore, call for a multi-faceted approach to treating and managing PTSD. Research conducted by Lee et al. (2021) indicated the infectiveness in applying a specific PTSD treatment calling for practical application of the combined efforts. Corroborated by Beck & Keane (2022), an increase in the prevalence of the disorder develops a sense of fear which the interaction of different factors can eliminate. Amid fear, a combined treatment approach proved to be the most effective treatment method.
Applying combined treatment measures ensures the elimination of gaps within PTSD care. Several barriers exist in the process of treating PTSD. Notably, PTSD patients would not want the prescribed medication to treat their PTSD conditions; other patients do not trust psychologists or therapists, while others still are not interested in group therapy as a treatment plan. It is, therefore, apparent that choosing one option to contain or treat PTSD among patients would be an exercise in futility and a detriment to the health and well-being of the patients. Choosing the proper treatment approach means the other techniques must be eliminated or forgone for various reasons. Moring et al. (2022) investigated PTSD treatment methods and found that applying cognitive therapy techniques to veterans presented different challenges, leading to ineffectiveness in treating patients. According to Moring et al. (2022), cognitive treatment failed to stabilize both thoughts and feelings of veterans, making it difficult to stabilize the conditions of war veterans. There is proof, therefore, that a singular approach to treating and managing PTSD among a select group is ineffective; a combined approach towards effective management of PSTD, especially among war veterans, would include a combination of medical prescriptions and joining a PTSD support group alongside psychotherapy. Lee et al. (2021) postulate that different treatments have different success rates in dealing with PTSD, thus indicating that it requires a combined approach to deal with the disorder due to its ability to overcome all challenges associated with another treatment mechanism. The cumulative success rates from each of the methods applied in the treatment will be beneficial in treating PTSD patients, unlike using a single approach whose failure could lead to more complications. Allan et al. (2020) identify the different measures applicable in the treatment of PTSD and the limitations of applying a single method in the treatment process; the limitations associated with each treatment method are classified under person-centred and variable-centred approaches (Moring et al., 2022). Treatment of PTSD is critical in enabling the patients to gain self-control; effective treatment is therefore very important; to research by Allan et al. (2020), an integrated approach combing psychotherapy and medications helps close the gaps that arise when a singular mode adopted. Cognitive therapy is one of the psychotherapy approaches to treating PTSD; the method focuses majorly on the traumatic events, thus recreating the traumatic memories in the patients, increasing their anxiety levels (Allan et al., 2020). Therefore, the authors argue that psychotherapy measures are more trauma-focused and have more limitations than the envisioned benefits by its proponents. Pharmacotherapy, the use of medications in treating PTSD, such as anti-depressants, provide alternatives where psychotherapy approaches have not been successful. However, increased use and sole reliance on medication as a treatment plan pose the risk of patients becoming dependent on the medications administered and hardly relieving the different symptoms. Combined interventions provide more benefits in the treatment plan since one method’s limitations are outweighed by the accruing benefits of the intervention approaches.
Combined treatment measures ensure that there is behavioral shaping towards eliminating PTSD. The combined treatment method is mainly becoming the most widely used treatment method due to its ability to address all the challenges associated with other treatment methods. Behavioral shaping plays a vital role in facilitating PTSD treatment; it achieves helping in the identification of the ultimately targeted behavior from a patient and establishes the suitable reinforcements to adopt to help achieve the desired behavior (Moring et al. (2022). Several incidences of patients reporting persistent symptoms even after treatment that still meet diagnostic criteria usually call for the need to switch to combine treatment measures. Psychosocial interventions usually suffer extensive avoidance from the patients of PTSD, which therefore limits exposure to positive post-traumatic experiences; symptoms of PTSD such as re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal will order immediately after traumatic events and take time to resolve; this would make it challenging to really on a single treatment plan to mitigate the PTSD conditions hence the need explore combined treatment measures for the patients.
Research by Smith and Jones (2022) found that combined medication treatment of PTSD is based on setting behaviors. This allows the counsellor to carefully monitor patient history to avoid overlooking key factors that might have contributed to PTSD, which is important during patient diagnosis. It is common for PTSD patients to avoid things that remind them of their traumatic events leading to their withdrawal from such events, therefore using Psychedelic Drugs alongside other interventions is vital in countering the potential withdrawal effects, especially where a single approach to treating PTSD would have been adopted (Smith & Jones,2022). As Allan et al. (2020) explain, missing an aspect of treating PTSD is very common, especially when dealing with a high population ratio affected by the disorder. Subsequently, using combined therapy sessions will ensure the effective treatment of patients since it will eliminate any form of misdiagnosis (Allan et al., 2020). Combined treatment bridges the gaps and even creates solutions to aspects which would have been missed in the process.
PTSD is a highly prevalent mental disorder whose treatment can effectively be administered combined with therapy. Effective administration of treatment for PTSD is usually focused on the need to restore the psychological well-being of the victims of various traumatic events. The prevalence rate of the disorder defines the choice of treatment which can be applied. The choice of an intervention or treatment plan should be best based on the targeted behaviors of the patient under treatment and the efficacy of each trauma-focused therapy. Numerous benefits accrue to patients with the adoption of a combined approach. PTSD patients have the possibility of missing aspects of the diagnosis, which can only be covered through the application of a combined approach. A combined treatment approach tconsidersthe various approaches that each intervention applies in diagnosing symptoms of PSTD, a concerted effort applied by the therapists, therefore, exposing the patients to interventions for several other conditions or symptoms. Complementing medications with psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions, such as the mindfulness approach to stress management, imparts the patients the need to attend to issues in a more non-judgmental and acceptable manner. The ability to cope with stress is critical in reducing incidents related to PTSD, such as suicide.
Combined therapy is the most appropriate technique to use in dealing with PTSD. From the foregoing research, combined therapy presents to PTSD patients invaluable benefits compared to the application of intervention measures. A combination of psychotherapy and medication brings into use the application of processes inclined towards pharmaceutical and psychological interventions towards PTSD conditions. The limitations and barriers associated with applying a single approach, such as medication or psychotherapy only, are offset by the advantages of a combined therapy approach. By adopting combined therapy, patients can avoid the side effects of a given intervention. While single use of medication is likely to expose patients to challenges such as the side effects of medicines, some aspects of cognitive therapy would recreate episodes of the sources of trauma among patients. Therefore, with no single and precise intervention measure towards treating and managing PTSD, combined therapy is effective in meeting the needs of the patients during the treatment process and enables the therapists to adjust treatment plans based on the response and behavior of the patients towards the different therapy and treatment modes under psychotherapy and medication respectively.
References
Allan, N. P., López-Castro, T., Hien, D. A., Papini, S., Killeen, T. K., Gros, D. F., Ruglass, L. M., Barrett, E., & Back, S. E. (2020). Response-to-treatment for comorbid post-traumatic stress and substance use disorders: The value of combining person- and variable-centered approaches. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 42(4), 725–738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-020-09803-w
Beck, J. G., & Keane, T. M. (2022). Representing all of us: Methodological and conceptual issues in the PTSD treatment literature, with a scoop of reality. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 29(3), 322–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000081
Idoiaga, N., Legorburu, I., Ozamiz-Etxebarria, N., Lipnicki, D. M., Villagrasa, B., & Santabárbara, J. (2022). Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis attending SDG 3 and 4 of the 2030 agenda. Sustainability, 14(13), 7914. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137914
Lee, E., Faber, J., & Bowles, K. (2021). A review of trauma specific treatments (TSTS) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Clinical Social Work Journal, 50(2), 147–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00816-w
Moring, J. C., Resick, P. A., Peterson, A. L., Husain, F. T., Esquivel, C., Young-McCaughan, S., Granato, E., & Fox, P. T. (2022). Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder alleviates tinnitus-related distress among veterans: A pilot study. American Journal of Audiology, 31(4), 1293–1298. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_aja-21-00241
Ptsd.va.gov. (n.d.). VA.gov | Veterans affairs. PTSD: National Center for PTSD Home. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp#:~:text=About%205%20out%20of%20every,some%20point%20in%20their%20life
Smith, E. & Jones, R. (2022). The Efficacy of Psychedelic Drugs in Treating PTSD: A Review of the Current State of Research. Journal of Trauma and Addiction, 7(2), 54–69.
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