EMDR and psychopharmacological therapy in the treatment of the post-traumatic stress disorder

Aim. This study evaluates the efficacy of two different treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): the psychopharmacological therapy, with a SSRI drug, and EMDR. Method. Two indipendent groups have been administered two different treatments: the treatment with sertraline to the group for psychopharmacological therapy; the treatment with one-week sessions of EMDR to the other group. For the evaluation of the symptoms of PTSD has been used the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). The inclusion of the subjects in the two groups has been absolutely random. Results. The results confirm previous studies available in literature, pointing out the efficacy of EMDR and of sertraline in improving the post-traumatic symptomatology and the levels of subjective sufference. But the number of subjects which at the end of the study didn't satisfy any more the criteria for PTSD has been absolutely greater in the group treated with EMDR. Conclusions. The study confirms the hypothesis of EMDR as a more efficacious treatment for PTSD compared to psychopharmacological therapy. This result could be a stimolous for further research with greater groups to investigate also the long term efficacy.