Traumatic experiences like an attack or a traffic accident can lead to nightmares, flashbacks, and other mental reactions, and accessible therapy is needed to prevent the problems from getting worse.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet have now completed what is possibly the largest evaluation of internet-assisted trauma-focused CBT (iCBT-T) for people with recent trauma to date. The study published in Psychological Medicine shows promising results.
Traumas such as traffic accidents, assault, or sexual abuse affect the victim’s mental health, causing symptoms such as flashbacks, mood swings, insomnia, hypervigilance, and social isolation. According to international population data, the average risk of suffering trauma is 70 percent.
The vast majority of people feel better mentally within about three months of the triggering event, but 5 or 6 percent of the time, the problems worsen into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is a debilitating mental disorder that increases the risk of suicide, drug and alcohol addiction, and general incapacity for work, among other things.
Accessible treatment required
It is known that interventions in the form of temporary trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-T) support recovery from a traumatic event and thus reduce the risk of PTSD and other disorders. To make treatment more accessible to more people, for example when an entire community is affected by natural disasters or violence, a digital option is needed.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet have now investigated the ability of iCBT-T to reduce symptoms of trauma in the early stages. 102 patients took part in the study, half of whom had sought medical help after trauma and about a third were on sick leave. Over two-thirds of the group met the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis.
Assault, death, rape, and traffic accidents were the leading causes of trauma among participants, with the event occurring on average a month earlier. The participants in the control group were on a waiting list for iCBT-T.
Natural relaxation for most
The study was carried out between October 2019 and June 2020. 51 participants received Internet transmitted CBT-T for three weeks, and the control group of 51 participants received iCBT-T after seven weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the groups, both of which were followed up after six months.
We used a waiting list to control natural recovery from psychological distress after trauma. The process of natural recovery seen in most people usually occurs within the first three months after a traumatic event. “
Erik Andersson, last author of the study, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
Their results show that temporary, internet-delivered intervention for people who have recently suffered trauma such as rape, assault, or traffic accident is effective in both short and long term in reducing PTSD symptoms.
“There were no evidence-based interventions to help people who have recently experienced trauma, so our results can be of great importance for our research field,” says the study’s lead author, Maria Bragesjö, psychologist and researcher at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience. Karolinska Institute. “There are also many prejudices that traumatized people, such as victims of sexual violence, are unable to respond to internet therapy. Our results may lead to more people receiving help in recovery and restoration of quality of life after serious illness. ” stressful events. “
One weakness of the study is that participants were screened for PTSD using a self-assessment form rather than a diagnostic interview.
Source:
Journal reference:
Bragesjö, M., et al. (2021) Long-term condensed internet-delivered exposure shortly after trauma: a randomized study. Psychological medicine. doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721003706.
source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/19/study-of-internet-delivered-trauma-focused-cbt-shows-promising-results/
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