Men and women returning from war may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As a healthcare provider, you know that this can be a difficult diagnosis, particularly if your patient is unwilling to address emotional issues that may be causing physical symptoms.
ACP in its collaboration with Joining Forces offers resources to help you better understand this condition and diagnostic tools you can use in your practice.
Related ACP Materials
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This is not just your father's VA...Women Veterans Health Care Kathryn Havens, MD Associate Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin Director of Women's Health, Zablocki VA |
As part of its broad approach to provide concise, practical information, strategies, and tools to enable busy clinicians to reduce the treatment gaps that exist for depression care, the Guide provides specific diagnostic tools for PTSD including:
- Gad-7
- Primary Care Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PC-PTSD) Screener
- PTSD CheckList – Civilian Version (PCL-C)
Access to the Guide is free and after reading the chapters, you can answer 40 multiple-choice questions, potentially qualifying for CME and CE credits.
Other ACP Resources
- Trauma Informed Care for Primary Care: The Lessons of War
Applying the processes we have learned from veterans who suffer from PTSD and other traumatic related illnesses to treatment in Primary Care. - William C. Menninger Memorial Award Lecture: PTSD and Other Trauma-Related Disorders by Robert J. Ursano, MD (available for purchase)
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Needs to Be Recognized in Primary Care
Over time, people with PTSD often turn into heavy users of health care, which opens up ongoing opportunities for screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Primary care physicians should be alert to extreme behaviors, such as excessive working, increased drinking or smoking, or increased social isolation and ask about recent trauma or loss.