Preventing PTSD
29th August 2013
Researchers have successfully trialled a technique to prevent PTSD in people who witness a traumatic event. The participants were trained to think about a traumatic event in a specific way; either focusing on ‘why’ it happened or on ‘how’ it happened. After being deliberately traumatised by watching a video of a car accident, it became clear that post-traumatic symptoms were much more likely to develop in those people who focused on ‘why’ the event happened. Researchers at Kings College London and Oxford University believe this could provide the basis for a training method to help prevent PTSD for people in the emergency services. Click on the link below to listen to the whole podcast from BBC Radio 4.