State-of-the-Art Prevention and Treatment of PTSD: Pharmacotherapy, Psychotherapy, and Nonpharmacological Somatic Therapies

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a distressing and disabling disease of great public health significance that is often associated with substantial psychiatric and medical co-morbidity. It commonly goes unreported and untreated and many cases become chronic in course. Unfortunately, only a minority of patients with chronic PTSD achieves remission. Indeed, it is unusual for patients with PTSD to achieve complete symptom remission after receiving monotherapy with medications or psychotherapy. However, great advances in the prevention and treatment of PTSD have been made in the last quarter century since it was first recognized as a distinct diagnostic entity in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition. This article discusses the current state-of-the-art prevention and treatment interventions for PTSD, including pharmacotherapies, psychotherapies, and nonpharmacological somatic treatments in active duty military personnel and veterans, adult civilians, and children and adolescents.