175 Years of Progress in PTSD Therapeutics: Learning From the Past

Traumatic stressors have always been a part of the human experience. What is now referred to as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was first studied in the context of military trauma during the Civil War and World War I but most extensively in World War II. Much of what we know about the medical and psychological management of PTSD has its origins in military psychiatric approaches, and a review of these practices reveals important tenets that should be applied in current treatment for both military and nonmilitary PTSD. These practices include intervention as soon as possible after the traumatic exposure, provision for a safe and supportive therapeutic milieu designed for an individual’s relatively rapid return to his or her responsibilities and normal activities, and using a combination of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy (especially exposure to the traumatic memory). A review of current guidelines for treatment of PTSD reveals that few treatments are endorsed with great certainty, owing in large part to a paucity of clinical trials, particularly of pharmacotherapy. This shortcoming must be addressed to enable translation of promising discoveries in the neuroscience of fear into the therapeutic advances patients need and deserve.

March 1947: Psychiatric Experience in the War, 1941–1946 Brig. General William C. Menninger

“Another observation which can be made as a result of our experience, is that if intensive treatment was provided early, in an environment in which the expectation of recovery prevailed, remarkable results were obtained.” (Am J Psychiatry 1947; 103:577–586)]