EMDR Treatment in People with Mild ID and PTSD: 4 Cases

Abstract

Although there is evidence to suggest that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are likely to be more susceptible to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than persons in the general population, until now only eight case reports on the treatment of people with ID suffering from PTSD symptoms have been published. In an effort to enrich the literature on this subject, the aim was to investigate the applicability of an evidence-based treatment for PTSD (i.e., EMDR) in four people with mild ID, suffering from PTSD following various kinds of trauma. In all cases PTSD symptoms decreased and the gains were maintained at 3 months to 2.5 year follow-up. In addition, depressive symptoms and physical complaints subsided, and social and adaptive skills improved. It is concluded that clients′ improvements converge to suggest the applicability of EMDR in people with mild ID. Difficulties involved in arriving at an accurate PTSD diagnosis in ID clients are discussed.

Do persons with intellectual disability and limited verbal capacities respond to trauma treatment?

“…The results are congruent with research findings when employing EMDR with people with mild intellectual disability (Barol & Seubert, 2010;Mevissen et al, 2011). Both participants met PTSD criteria as described in the DM-ID, particularly when one considers their trauma histories and the behavioural changes that occured after treatment.…”

“…Eye movements are held to serve as such a "secondary" task that taxes working memory (Engelhard et al, 2011;Gunter & Bodner, 2008 Barol & Seubert, 2010;Greenwald, 1999;Mevissen et al, 2011;Tinker & Wilson, 1999). In Phase III, for example, children with a mental age between 4 and 8 are asked to draw the target image instead of describing it verbally.…”

“…To date, four case reports of PTSD treatment of clients with ID using TFCBT and 13 using EMDR have been found in the literature (Barol & Seubert, 2010;Mevissen, Lievegoed, & De Jongh, 2011). Of them, 14 clients had mild ID and one had moderate ID.…”

The Effects of Traumatizing Life Events on People With Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review

“…This review has summarized effects that if seen in clinical settings could prompt consideration of past trauma in their etiology. Reliable case recognition in turn facilitates effective treatment (Bisson & Andrew, 2007;Mevissen, Lievegoed, & de Jongh, 2010;Stenfert Kroese & Thomas, 2006).…”

The contribution of human psychology to disaster management: mitigation, advance preparedness, response and recovery

“…Some research to date has recognised longer term psychological damage in people exposed to potentially traumatic situations, focusing on the prevalence and treatment of conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) [69,72,83,[85][86][87]. PTSD is increasingly recognised as a common and debilitating mental disorder, and considerable effort has been expended developing and researching treatments for those affected [88][89][90][91][92][93][94]. However, what is not fully understood is why and how PTSD occurs in some people but not in others.…”