Trauma can be an incipient co-factor for the development of a mood disorder. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is commonly associated with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, impulse control disorders, and substance use disorder. When PTSD develops, it most often follows a traumatic event where a person’s physical or emotional health is harmed or threatened.
Mood disorders often caused by trauma include PTSD, Acute Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Adjustment Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Effective approaches must address the core problem by focusing on a patient’s trauma history and helping them tolerate triggers and come back from hyperarousal.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a long-standing treatment for trauma disorders. It helps survivors cope with the effects of traumatic events by challenging negative thoughts and emotions and developing new self-conceptions and self-care skills. CBT focuses on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors — healing unhelpful thought patterns leads to healthier behaviors and improved emotional regulation.
CBT can be used in conjunction with different techniques such as mindfulness, relaxation, art therapy, and EMDR.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT teaches five main skillsets: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, dialectical thinking, and interpersonal effectiveness. It is specifically adapted for people who experience emotions very intensely. In Stage 1, DBT focuses on helping patients regulate emotional states and achieve behavioral control so they can tolerate trauma-focused therapy in Stage 2.
DBT has been proven effective for Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, Substance Use Disorder, Depression, and Anxiety.
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET)
NET involves the patient establishing a chronological narrative of their life, concentrating on traumatic experiences while also incorporating positive events. The therapist guides the patient to describe emotions, thoughts, sensory information, and physiological responses while reliving the emotions without losing connection to the present.
NET is unique in its explicit focus on creating an account that serves to recapture the patient’s self-respect and acknowledges their autonomy and value.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR involves the patient moving their eyes in a specific way while processing traumatic memories. A key difference from other modalities is that EMDR does not necessarily require the patient to talk in detail about the distressing issue. Instead, it focuses on changing the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors resulting from the experience.
EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing theory, which suggests that the brain stores normal and traumatic memories differently. The reprocessing allows patients to repair and reframe traumatic memories so they no longer feel like they are reliving them.
The Path Forward
Any of these therapy modalities, alone or in conjunction with one another and psychiatric medications, can be extremely effective. Lingering effects from trauma can last from several months to a year or more, depending on the trauma, the person, time, treatment, and support. With time and proper treatment, individuals can overcome trauma and manage trauma-based disorders to live a happy, healthy life.
