After PTSD More Trauma

A terrific article appeared in the New York Times this week on PTSD, called “After PTSD, More Trauma.”

It’s about a veteran who came home traumatized and saw a new graduate therapist at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The therapist decided to apply Exposure Therapy to cure him and predictably, it made him much worse.

When I regained consciousness, I was pacing the lobby of the theater, looking at people’s hands to make sure they weren’t carrying weapons.

Afterward, I asked my girlfriend what happened. “There was an explosion in the movie,” she said. “You got up and ran out.”

Read the article to learn why it’s so important to treat trauma properly—using safe and effective techniques that do not require potentially dangerous methods such as exposure therapy, cognitive behavior therapy or psychotropic drugs.