Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Systematic Review

A systematic review of randomized trials of mind‐body interventions for PTSD

“…Although CI interventions for PTSD have been widely utilized and attracted great interest in recent years, empirical support for these interventions has lagged behind the clinical use. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine called for more research to evaluate the efficacy of these treatments (Institute of Medicine, ) and several published reviews of the scientific evidence soon followed (e.g., Banks, Newman, & Saleem, ; Kim, Schneider, Kravitz, Mermier, & Burge, ; Khusid & Vythilingam, ; Wahbeh, Senders, Neuendorf, & Cayton, ; Duan‐Porter et al ). As a whole these reviews demonstrated encouraging findings, but underscored the scant extant literature to support CI interventions for PTSD.…”

A Qualitative Study of Mindfulness Among Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Practices Differentially Affect Symptoms, Aspects of Well-Being, and Potential Mechanisms of Action

“…A recent systematic review of complementary and alternative medicine for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found positive evidence for mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). 1 To date, the literature mostly comprises cross-sectional analyses and prospective outcome studies that compare MBIs to treatment as usual (TAU) or wait-list control groups. 2 –9 Randomized control trials (RCTs) are generally considered the most scientifically rigorous method of assessing the efficacy of MBIs.…”

Post-Freudian PTSD: Breath, the Protector of Dreams

“…Based on symptom alteration, primarily a decrease in nightmare frequency (the most commonly described symptom of PTSD), epistemologically-based reviews indicate that a majority of these therapies have a greater than 80% short-term efficacy. [4][5][6][7][8] In our field of sleep medicine, research and clinical practice indicate that sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has a high incidence in PTSD populations. Studies-such as the study by Ullah et al in this issue of Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine-indicate that in patients with PTSD and SDB, airway control with positive airway pressure (PAP) systems can lower nightmare frequency, improve disordered sleep and questionnaire-assessed PTSD symptoms, and potentially prevent the development of full-blown PTSD.…”

“…Current protocols for evaluating and treating PTSD avoid addressing the possibility of coexistent SDB. [3][4][5][6][7]18 Despite the short-term success of the many available therapies in treating nightmares and insomnia, PTSD has proven to be extraordinarily difficult to cure. Suicide risk and the negative effects of PTSD on waking life function commonly extend into extreme old age despite therapy.…”