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Pharmacological Treatment of Trauma-Related Disorders

  • Chapter
International Handbook of Human Response to Trauma

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Stress and Coping ((SSSO))

Abstract

Traditionally, the etiology of PTSD has been construed in psychological terms, such as learned conditioning (Keane et al., 1985), shattered cognitive assumptions (Janoff Bullman, 1985), or impacted grief (Horowitz, 1974). Such understanding reflected an early belief about PTSD, according to which the disorder was an extension of a normal response to extreme events, and its persistence over time was mediated by “unresolved” psychological processes. The current trend of imputing all mental disorders to underlying brain pathology has not spared PTSD. Current biological formulations of PTSD emphasize the pathogenic effects of environmental “stressors” on (predisposed?) brain structures, and PTSD is the expression of the resulting neuropathology. Biological therapies attempt to redress, reduce, or balance such hypothetical dysfunction of the brain.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel

    Arieh Y. Shalev & Omer Bonne

Authors
  1. Arieh Y. Shalev
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  2. Omer Bonne
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

    Arieh Y. Shalev

  2. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

    Rachel Yehuda

  3. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia

    Alexander C. McFarlane

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Shalev, A.Y., Bonne, O. (2000). Pharmacological Treatment of Trauma-Related Disorders. In: Shalev, A.Y., Yehuda, R., McFarlane, A.C. (eds) International Handbook of Human Response to Trauma. Springer Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4177-6_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4177-6_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6873-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4177-6

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