Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common mental health condition that affects approximately 6% of the Australian population. People with PTSD have witnessed or experienced a highly stressful event and continue to suffer symptoms for at least a month after the event occurred.

What are the Symptoms of PTSD?

People with PTSD often have the following types of symptoms:

1. People with PTSD often report feeling constantly alert and on-guard which can result in sleeping difficulties, irritability, lack of concentration, becoming easily startled.
2. They might have nightmares about the event or frequent thoughts or images of the event that can result in physical reactions such as sweating, shaking or panicky feelings.
3. They are likely to avoid situations, people and places that remind them about the event, and sometimes say that they feel numb, uninterested in people and uninterested in activities that used to be important to them, or hopeless about their future.

These symptoms often begin straight after the trauma but it is also possible that they might not start until a long time afterwards.

Can PTSD Be Treated?

In clinical trials of the best treatments for PTSD around two thirds of people reduce their symptoms to a normal level. You can talk to your General Practitioner about getting a referral to a Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or another mental health professional trained to treat PTSD. The fees for some professionals are refunded through Medicare. Or, you can try our new PTSD education Program (see below).

How Can I Help Someone with PTSD?

If you know someone who has recently witnessed or experienced a traumatic event then support them to talk about the experience if they want to. But, it is potentially damaging to push people who don’t want to talk. The majority of people will recover on their own.

If the symptoms do not settle down after two weeks you may want to encourage the person to seek treatment.

What is the VirtualClinic PTSD Program?

The PTSD Program is designed to teach people to learn to manage symptoms of PTSD. It is all done over the Internet so people can log in at a time that suits them. The PTSD Program includes:

• 7 lessons of materials that teach you techniques for reducing symptoms
• Homework activities to help people practice the new techniques
• Weekly email and telephone support from a Clinical Psychologist
  
• Lots of additional resources

The Program is designed to provide you with the information that you would normally receive from high quality face-to-face treatment from a clinical psychologist. Please note: Learning to overcome symptoms of PTSD takes determination and commitment. We expect that during the Program you will have to invest at least 4 hours each week reading the materials and practicing the skills described in those materials. We appreciate that thinking about things you don’t want to may be uncomfortable. So, we have designed the program so that you can go at a pace that feels safe and leaves you in control. However, it is hard work!

Trials of the VirtualClinic PTSD Program

We have now begun the first trial of the PTSD program. In this trial, 50 people have been randomly allocated to one of two groups:

1) The Immediate Education group. This group began the program on Monday 30th August.
2) The Waiting List group. This group will begin the program on Monday 1st November.

During the program seven different lessons are provided over 8 weeks. Each participant will be contacted weekly by phone or email by a clinical psychologist who will answer questions about the lessons and show participants how to use the skills to help them to learn to reduce their symptoms.

The second trial of the PTSD program will begin in April or May 2011. To receive updates about future trials of the PTSD program, please register your interest by clicking here.

Important Information for Applicants to the PTSD Program

• This treatment program involves a substantial amount of homework and practice of the core skills. The more that you practice the better you will get however a minimum of four hours per week is needed in order for the treatment to work.
• People who are already receiving cognitive behavioural therapy for PTSD from another clinician are not eligible for the PTSD program. This is because we won’t know if improvement is due to our treatment or because of other treatment.
• Please note that we do not provide legal reports or any formal treatment outcome records aside from a phone call at the end to let you know your overall progress during treatment.
• Please note that we cannot accept applications from people if they are planning to change medication just prior to, or during the program, since medication changes are likely to affect your mood.
• Please note that research shows that sedative drugs like Valium, drinking alcohol frequently or using illegal drugs decreases the chances of the treatment working. It is recommended that you make plans to reduce or stop your use prior to starting. Please see your GP to discuss a safe plan for withdrawal.
• Finally, this treatment is based on cognitive behavioural therapy. This therapy has been found to be the fastest and most effective form of treatment for PTSD; however, it is also the most difficult form of treatment since it involves examining avoided experiences. While you will be in charge of the pace of this process, it is likely that you will feel worse before you get better. Please only apply if you feel willing to engage with some of the things you might be avoiding such as memories and other reminders of the trauma.

We are also conducting an internet survey to learn more about symptoms of PTSD and about the acceptability of Internet-based treatment of PTSD. This survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. To learn more about this survey, please click here. 

Page Last Updated: 3 September 2010, by Dr Nickolai Titov