Types of childhood maltreatment as predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder severity and complex posttraumatic stress disorder in patients with substance use disorders.

Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM) can be divided into: emotional abuse (EA), physical abuse (PA), sexual abuse (SA), emotional neglect (EN), and physical neglect (PN). CM is associated with (Complex)Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD/CPTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD).Objective: This cross-sectional study examined the relationships between CM-subtypes with PTSD-severity and CPTSD in patients with SUD-PTSD.Method: Participants (N = 209) were treatment-seeking SUD-PTSD patients who completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-short form, the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 and the International Trauma Questionnaire. Regression analyses and a model selection procedure to select an optimal model were used to examine CM-subtypes as predictors of (C)PTSD, adjusted for sex and age.Results: Total CM and all CM-types significantly predicted PTSD-severity in the univariate regression analysis, with EA begin the strongest predictor. In the multiple regression only SA predicted PTSD-severity. Subsequently, model selection indicated that the optimal model to predict PTSD-severity included EA and SA. In the univariate analyses total CM, EA, and PN significantly predicted CPTSD-classification, and total CM and all CM-types significantly predicted CPTSD-severity. In the multiple regression for CPTSD-classification only EA and PA were significant predictors and for CPTSD-severity EA, PA and SA were significant predictors. In post-hoc multiple regression analyses, only EA was a significant predictor of CPTSD-classification and CPTSD-severity. Finally, in the model selection the most parsimonious model only included EA for both CPTSD-classification and CPTSD-severity. Sex was not a moderator in the relationship between CM and PTSD, nor in CM and CPTSD.Conclusions: These findings indicate that for SUD-PTSD patients, several CM-types have predictive value for (C)PTSD-severity, however SA and especially EA appear to contribute to these complaints. Since EA does not constitute an A-criterion, it is generally more overlooked in PTSD treatment. Its impact should therefore be underlined, and clinicians should be attentive to EA in their treatment.

All types of Childhood Maltreatment are associated with PTSD severity.Emotional Abuse and Sexual Abuse are most predictive for PTSD severity.Emotional Abuse is most predictive for CPTSD classification and symptom severity.

Posttraumatic growth EEG neuromarkers: translational neural comparisons with resilience and PTSD in trauma-exposed healthy adults.

Background: Supporting wellbeing beyond symptom reduction is necessary in trauma care. Research suggests increased posttraumatic growth (PTG) may promote wellbeing more effectively than posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reduction alone. Understanding neurobiological mechanisms of PTG would support PTG intervention development. However, most PTG research to-date has been cross-sectional data self-reported through surveys or interviews.Objective: Neural evidence of PTG and its coexistence with resilience and PTSD is limited. To advance neural PTG literature and contribute translational neuroscientific knowledge necessary to develop future objectively measurable neural-based PTG interventions.Method: Alpha frequency EEG and validated psychological inventories measuring PTG, resilience, and PTSD symptoms were collected from 30 trauma-exposed healthy adults amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. EEG data were collected using custom MNE-Python software, and a wireless OpenBCI 16-channel dry electrode EEG headset. Psychological inventory scores were analysed in SPSS Statistics and used to categorise the EEG data. Power spectral density analyses, t-tests and ANOVAs were conducted within EEGLab to identify brain activity differentiating high and low PTG, resilience, and PTSD symptoms.Results: Higher PTG was significantly differentiated from low PTG by higher alpha power in the left centro-temporal brain area around EEG electrode C3. A trend differentiating high PTG from PTSD was also indicated in this same location. Whole-scalp spectral topographies revealed alpha power EEG correlates of PTG, resilience and PTSD symptoms shared limited, but potentially meaningful similarities.Conclusion: This research provides the first comparative neural topographies of PTG, resilience and PTSD symptoms in the known literature. Results provide objective neural evidence supporting existing theory depicting PTG, resilience and PTSD as independent, yet co-occurring constructs. PTG neuromarker alpha C3 significantly delineated high from low PTG and warrants further investigation for potential clinical application. Findings provide foundation for future neural-based interventions and research for enhancing PTG in trauma-exposed individuals.

Objective translational study designed to increase neural understanding of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and provide a basis for future neural-based interventions to enhance PTG.Results provide neural evidence of PTG as an independent construct that coexists, and shares limited neural relatedness with resilience and PTSD symptoms.Increased PTG was significantly related to higher alpha power in the left centro-temporal brain area around EEG electrode C3: This finding warrants further investigation for potential clinical application.

Exploration of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in treating posttraumatic stress-disorder in patients with acquired brain injury: a retrospective case series.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is prevalent in people with acquired brain injury (ABI). Despite the established efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for PTSD in general, evaluation studies on EMDR in ABI patients with PTSD are limited.Objective: The aim of this study is to explore clinical features, treatment characteristics, feasibility and first indications of efficacy of EMDR in adult ABI patients with PTSD.Method: This retrospective consecutive case series included ABI patients, who received at least one session of EMDR for PTSD between January 2013 and September 2020. PTSD symptoms were measured using the Impact of Event Scale (IES) pre- and post-treatment. Affective distress was measured using the Subjective Units of Distress (SUD) pre- and post-treatment of the first target.Results: Sixteen ABI patients (median age 46 years, 50% males), with predominantly moderate or severe TBI (50%) or stroke (25%) were included. Treatment duration was a median of seven sessions. Post-treatment IES scores were significantly lower than pre-treatment scores (p < .001). In 81% of the cases there was an individual statistically and clinically relevant change in IES score. Mean SUD scores of the first target were significantly lower at the end of treatment compared to scores at the start of treatment (p < .001). In 88% of the patients full desensitization to a SUD of 0-1 of the first target was accomplished. Only few adjustments to the standard EMDR protocol were necessary.Conclusions: Findings suggest that EMDR is a feasible, well tolerated and potentially effective treatment for PTSD in ABI patients. For clinical practice in working with ABI patients, it is advised to consider EMDR as a treatment option.

This retrospective consecutive case series (N = 16) explores clinical features, treatment characteristics, feasibility and first indications of efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in adult patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) and Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The results suggest that EMDR is a feasible and potentially efficacious treatment for PTSD in ABI patients, as patients demonstrated statistically and clinically significant large sized reductions in PTSD-symptoms after EMDR treatment.For clinical practice in working with ABI patients, we advise to consider EMDR as a treatment option.

Post-traumatic stress in war veterans and secondary traumatic stress among parents of war veterans five years after the 2014 Israel-Gaza military conflict.

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) has been studied in therapists, spouses, and mainly in children of traumatised individuals. To date, the relationship between children's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and their parents' mental health outcomes have been understudied, and specifically, long term STS symptoms of parents of war veterans were not investigated. The current study examined PTSD symptoms among veterans of the 2014 Israel-Gaza war and STS among their parents, five years after the war. The control group consisted of veterans from combat military units who were on active duty at the time of the war but did not actively participate in the war (stand-by units) - providing a natural experiment condition. We found that PTSD symptoms were almost twice as high in the directly active war veterans (DAV, N = 32) group compared to the indirectly active war veterans (IAV, N = 26) group. Results showed that mothers had higher STS symptoms in general, and DAV PTSD symptoms correlated with their fathers STS symptoms. The current study provides novel evidence for: (a) subclinical PTSD symptoms in war veterans 5 years after the war, and (b) transmission of trauma from war veterans to their parents. The overall negative effect of sending a child to war on the parents are also discussed.

The current study examined post-traumatic stress symptoms among undiagnosed war veterans of the 2014­2014 Israel-Gaza Military Conflict compared to matched control who were on active military duty at the same time but did not actively participate in the war. We found higher post-traumatic stress symptoms in the veterans who actively participated in the war, roughly five years after the war.Parents of veterans who actively participated in the war exhibited higher secondary traumatic stress compared to parents of veterans who did not actively participate in the war. This is especially interesting given that parents of all veterans were not aware of their whereabouts during the war. Overall, mothers exhibited higher secondary traumatic stress compared to fathers. However, fathers were more 'in-sync' with their sons' traumatic experience as evident by a significant correlation between the war veterans' post-traumatic stress and the fathers' secondary traumatic stress symptoms.

Neuroscientific account of Guilt- and Shame-Driven PTSD phenotypes.

Background: Guilt and Shame, two core self-related emotions, often emerge following trauma and play an important role in the development and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Importantly, Guilt and Shame exhibit specific focal and non-specific global impacts of trauma on self-perception, respectively.Objective and Methods: Integrating psychological theories with neuroscientific knowledge, we suggest a scheme of two diverging clinical phenotypes of PTSD, associated with distinct self-related processes and differential functionality of relevant neural networks.Proposal: The Guilt-driven phenotype is characterized by preoccupation with negative self-attributes of one's actions in the traumatic event. It involves altered functionality of both the salience network (SN) and the default-mode network (DMN), associated with heightened interoceptive signalling and ruminative introspection which may lead to hyperarousal and intrusive symptoms, respectively. On the contrary, the Shame-driven phenotype is characterized by global, identity-related negative self-attributions. It involves altered functionality of both the SN and the DMN, associated with blunted interoceptive signalling and diminished introspection which may result in withdrawal and anhedonia symptoms together with dissociative experiences, respectively.Conclusion: The proposed PTSD phenotypes may inform neuropsychological therapeutic interventions (e.g. self-focused psychotherapy and neuromodulation) aiming to restore the function of large-scale self-related neural processing.

Guilt and Shame are two self-related emotions that often emerge following traumatic events and may contribute to the clinical profile of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Our framework suggests Guilt and Sham driven phenotypes of post-traumatic psychopathology, associated with two self-processing deficiencies related to specific action or global identity, respectively.The proposed phenotypes may inform neuropsychological treatments aiming to restore dysfunctional neural networks, later to be evident in alleviating Guilt and Shame and improving clinical outcomes.

Translation and validation of the Dari International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) in Afghan asylum seekers and refugees.

Background: The International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) is a standardized and validated measure aligned with the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) diagnostic criteria to assess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). It has been translated into 25 different languages, but is yet to be translated into Dari and validated for use in the Afghan population.Objective: This study aimed (1) to translate and culturally adapt the ITQ for use in Dari; (2) to assess the construct validity and composite reliability of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD using the Dari ITQ; and (3) to examine the concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity of the Dari ITQ.Method: The Dari ITQ was validated through the completion of a set of standardized measures by 305 Afghan asylum seekers and refugees in Austria. Factorial analyses and psychometric properties of the Dari ITQ were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), bivariate correlations, and multivariate regression.Results: Asylum seekers showed significantly higher levels of ICD-11 CPTSD symptomatology and probable diagnoses of ICD-11 PTSD, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) PTSD, anxiety, depression, and psychological distress in comparison to refugees. CFA results supported the two-factor second-order model comprised of the PTSD and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) as the best fit to the data. The psychometric adequacy of this model in the Dari ITQ was evidenced by high factor loadings and excellent internal reliability. The Dari ITQ showed satisfactory concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity.Conclusion: The current study supports the statistical validity and cultural sensitivity of the Dari ITQ in identifying symptoms of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD among Afghan asylum seekers and refugees.

This study provides the first translation and validation of the ITQ in Dari with an Afghan refugee population in Austria.The two-factor second-order model was supported as the best fit to the data.Additional support for the composite reliability, and concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity was provided, suggesting the statistical validity and cultural sensitivity of the Dari ITQ in identifying symptoms of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD among Afghan asylum seekers and refugees.

Cross-cultural validity and psychometric properties of the International Trauma Questionnaire in a clinical refugee sample.

Background: The ICD-11 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD diagnoses have been examined in several studies using the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ). The cross-cultural validity of the ITQ has not previously been studied using item responses theory methods focused on the issue of equal item functioning and thus comparability of scores across language groups.Objective: To investigate the cross-cultural validity of the ITQ scales considering specifically local independence of items and differential item functioning (DIF) in a cross-cultural sample of refugees.Method: Data from 490 treatment-seeking refugees were included, covering Danish, Arabic, and Bosnian languages and different levels of interpreter-assisted administration. Rasch and graphical log-linear Rasch models were used.Results: There was strong local dependence among items from the same symptom clusters in the PTSD and disorders in self-organization (DSO) scales, except between affective dysregulation items. Weak local dependence was discovered between an item from the affective dysregulation cluster and an item from the disturbed relationship cluster. There was no evidence of DIF related to language or interpreter assistance. There was evidence of DIF for two PTSD items relative to gender and time since the traumatic event. The targeting of the scales to the study population was not optimal. Reliability varied from 0.55 to 0.78 for subgroups.Conclusions: The PTSD and the DSO scales have stable psychometric properties across the Danish, Arabic, and Bosnian language versions and different levels of assisted administration. Scores are comparable across these groups. However, DIF relative to gender and time since trauma introduces considerable measurement bias. DIF-adjusted summed scale scores or estimated person parameters should be used to avoid measurement bias. Future research should investigate whether scales including more and/or alternative items that require higher levels of PTSD and DSO to be endorsed will improve targeting and measurement precision for refugee populations.

A first cross-cultural validity study of the ITQ using IRT.PTSD and DSO subscales functioned invariantly across Danish, Arabic, and Bosnian, and also across degrees of interpreter assistance. Two PTSD items did not function invariantly across gender and time since trauma.The Danish, Arabic, and Bosnian ITQ can be used for screening treatment-seeking refugees, taking into account the item bias in the PTSD subscale, and suboptimal targeting and reliability, which require extensions or modification of items.

Sleep, circadian system and traumatic stress.

The human circadian system creates and maintains cellular and systemic rhythmicity essential for the temporal organization of physiological processes promoting homeostasis and environmental adaptation. Sleep disruption and loss of circadian rhythmicity fundamentally affects master homeostasic regulating systems at the crossroads of peripheral and central susceptibility pathways, similar to acute or chronic stress and, thus, may play a central role in the development of stress-related disorders. Direct and indirect human and animal PTSD research accordingly suggests circadian-system-linked sleep, neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic and autonomic dysregulation, linking circadian misalignment to PTSD pathophysiology. Additionally, there is evidence that sleep and circadian disruption may represent a vital pre-existing risk factor in the prediction of PTSD development, while sleep-related symptoms are among the most prominent in trauma-associated disorders. These facts may represent a need for a shift towards a more chronobiological understanding of traumatic sequel and could support better prevention, evaluation and treatment of sleep and circadian disruption as first steps in PTSD management. In this special issue, we highlight and review recent advances from human sleep and chronobiological research that enhances our understanding of the development and maintenance of trauma-related disorders.

El sistema circadiano humano crea y mantiene la ritmicidad celular y sistémica esencial para la organización temporal de los procesos fisiológicos que promueven la homeostasis y la adaptación ambiental. La alteración del sueño y la pérdida del ritmo circadiano afectan fundamentalmente a los sistemas de regulación homeostáticos maestros en la encrucijada de las vías de susceptibilidad periféricas y centrales, similar al estrés agudo o crónico y, por lo tanto, pueden desempeñar un papel central en el desarrollo de trastornos relacionados con el estrés. Investigación directa e indirecta en TEPT en humanos y animales respectivamente, sugiere que el sueño ligado al sistema circadiano, la desregulación neuroendocrina, inmune, metabólica y autónoma vincula la desalineación circadiana con la fisiopatología del TEPT. Además, existe evidencia que el sueño y la alteración circadiana pueden representar un factor de riesgo vital preexistente en predicción del desarrollo de TEPT, mientras que los síntomas relacionados con el sueño se encuentran entre los mas importantes en los trastornos asociados a trauma. Estos hechos pueden representar la necesidad de un cambio hacia una comprensión más cronobiológica de la secuela traumática y podría apoyar una mejor prevención, evaluación y tratamiento del sueño y la alteración circadiana como primeros pasos en el manejo del TEPT. En este número especial, destacamos y revisamos los avances recientes del sueño en el ser humano y la investigación cronobiológica que pueda mejorar nuestra comprensión del desarrollo y mantenimiento de los trastornos relacionados con el trauma.

Predictors and moderators of treatment outcome for single incident paediatric PTSD: a multi-centre randomized clinical trial.

Background: With few RCTs having compared active treatments for paediatric PTSD, little is known about whether or which baseline (i.e. pre-randomization) variables predict or moderate outcomes in the evaluated treatments. Objective: To identify predictors and moderators of paediatric PTSD outcomes for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioural Writing Therapy (CBWT). Method: Data were obtained as part of a multi-centre, randomized controlled trial of up to six sessions (up to 45 minutes each) of either EMDR therapy, CBWT, or wait-list, involving 101 youth (aged 8-18 years) with a PTSD diagnosis (full/subthreshold) tied to a single event. The predictive and moderating effects of the child's baseline sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and parent's psychopathology were evaluated using linear mixed models (LMM) from pre- to post-treatment and from pre- to 3- and 12-month follow-ups. Results: At post-treatment and 3-month follow-up, youth with an index trauma of sexual abuse, severe symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression, more comorbid disorders, negative posttraumatic beliefs, and with a parent with more severe psychopathology fared worse in both treatments. For children with more severe self-reported PTSD symptoms at baseline, the (exploratory) moderator analysis showed that the EMDR group improved more than the CBWT group, with the opposite being true for children and parents with a less severe clinical profile. Conclusions: The most consistent finding from the predictor analyses was that parental symptomatology predicted poorer outcomes, suggesting that parents should be assessed, supported and referred for their own treatment where indicated. The effect of the significant moderator variables was time-limited, and given the large response rate (>90%) and brevity (<4 hours) of both treatments, the present findings suggest a focus on implementation and dissemination, rather than tailoring, of evidence-based trauma-focused treatments for paediatric PTSD tied to a single event.

Antecedentes: Dado que pocos ECA (ensayos controlados aleatorizados) han comparado tratamientos activos para el TEPT pediátrico, se sabe poco acerca de si las variables basales (es decir, pre-aleatorización) predicen o moderan los resultados en los tratamientos evaluados.Objetivo: Identificar predictores y moderadores de los resultados del TEPT pediátrico para la Terapia de Reprocesamiento y Desensibilización por Movimientos Oculares (EMDR) y la Terapia de Escritura Cognitiva Conductual (CBWT en sus siglas en ingles).Método: Los datos se obtuvieron como parte de un ensayo controlado aleatorizado multicéntrico de hasta seis sesiones (de hasta 45 minutos cada una) de terapia EMDR, CBWT o lista de espera, que incluyó a 101 jóvenes (de 8 a 18 años de edad) con un diagnóstico de TEPT (total/subumbral) vinculado a un solo evento. Los efectos predictivos y moderadores de las características sociodemográficas y clínicas basales del niño y la psicopatología de los padres se evaluaron mediante modelos lineales mixtos (MLM) desde antes y después del tratamiento y desde antes hasta los 3 y 12 meses de seguimiento.Resultados: En el post-tratamiento y en el seguimiento a los 3 meses, los jóvenes con un trauma índice de abuso sexual, síntomas severos de TEPT, ansiedad, depresión, más trastornos comórbidos, creencias postraumáticas negativas y con un padre con psicopatología más severa obtuvieron los peores resultados en ambos tratamientos. Para los niños con síntomas de TEPT auto-informados más graves al inicio del estudio, el análisis del moderador (exploratorio) mostró que el grupo EMDR mejoró más que el grupo CBWT, siendo lo opuesto para los niños y los padres con un perfil clínico menos grave.Conclusiones: El hallazgo más consistente de los análisis de predictores fue que la sintomatología de los padres predijo peores resultados, lo que sugiere que los padres deben ser evaluados, apoyados y referidos para su propio tratamiento cuando esté indicado. El efecto de las variables moderadoras significativas fue limitado en el tiempo, y dada la gran tasa de respuesta (> 90%) y la brevedad (<4 horas) de ambos tratamientos, los presentes hallazgos sugieren un enfoque en la implementación y diseminación, en lugar de la adaptación, de tratamientos centrados en el trauma basados en la evidencia para el TEPT pediátrico vinculados a un solo evento.

Exploración neuropsicológica de la atención y la memoria en niños y adolescentes victimas de la violencia en Colombia: estudio preliminar / Neuropsychological exploration of the attention and memory in children and adolescents victims of violence in Colombia: a preliminary study

Este estudio presenta los resultados preliminares de la evaluación neuropsicológica de la atención y la memoria en un grupo de 35 niños, niñas y adolescentes, víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia que presentan síntomas de estrés postraumático y/o depresión. Los datos forman parte de una investigación más amplia que evalúa los efectos neuropsicológicos del trauma psicológico en este grupo etáreo. Los resultados permiten concluir que los participantes en su conjunto presentan puntajes más bajos en atención y memoria y que dicho efecto tiende a acentuarse en la adolescencia. Dadas las características de la muestra analizada, los autores consideran que tanto los síntomas neuropsiquiátricos como las conductas inadecuadas y el bajo rendimiento cognitivo, podrían tener un factor común asociado a las situaciones de violencia que no ha sido suficientemente analizado.

This paper presents the preliminary results of a neuropsychological assessment of attention and memory carried out to a group of 35 children and adolescents that were victims of the armed conflict in Colombia; who presented symptoms of PTSD and / or depression. The data belong to a larger study that evaluates the neuropsychological effects of psychological trauma in a particular age group. The results suggest that participants experience lower attention and memory scores and it might increase during adolescence years. According to the characteristics of the sample, the authors consider that the neuropsychological symptoms, the inadequate behavior, and low cognitive performance might have a common component associated to situations of violence; which have not been further analyzed.

Controversias respecto de la conceptualización del trastorno de estrés postraumático / Controversies in regards to the conceptualization of the post-traumatic stress disorder

Las controversias respecto al TEPT, desde su formulación como categoría diagnóstica hasta el presente, han sido múltiples. Se han planteado interrogantes respecto de su estatus como concepto científico por los factores socio históricos que influyeron tanto en su origen como categoría como en la expansión de su empleo, así como cuestionamientos específicos a su validez de constructo. El concepto de evento traumático, la relación de causalidad entre evento traumático y consecuencias psicopatológicas, la especificidad que tendría la respuesta traumática, son parte relevante de esos cuestionamientos. El artículo presenta una visión de estas controversias y señala sus implicaciones para la comprensión y tratamiento de las consecuencias psicológicas de los eventos traumáticos.

The controversies respect to the PTSD, since its formulation as a diagnostic category up to the present, have been multiple. Questions have been posed in relationship to its status as a scientific concept because due to socio-historical factors that influenced in its origin as a category as well as in the expansion of its use. Also, queries have been raised concerning the validity of this construct. The concept of traumatic event, the causal relationship between the traumatic event and its psychopathological consequences, the specificity of the traumatic response, are relevant parts of these queries. The article presents an overview of these controversies and states its implications for the understanding and treatment of the psychological consequences of traumatic events.

Génesis de los delirios en el trastorno por estrés postraumático de combate / Genesis of Delusions in Combat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

De los pacientes que desarrollan trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT) de combate o eventos traumáticos muy fuertes, la mayoría presenta todos los síntomas descritos en el numeral 3 del ítem B de los criterios del DSM-IV, donde están incluidos diferentes tipos de trastornos sensoperceptivos. Sin embargo, no hay referencia precisa de ideas delirantes secundarias y, a la vez, estos delirios son considerados generalmente síntomas de una enfermedad diferente y se diagnostican dos entidades diferentes sin consideran el origen y la evolución de estos delirios. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo describir el origen de las ideas delirantes en pacientes con TEPT que presentan trastornos sensoperceptivos graves, sin que estos fenómenos impliquen un diagnóstico asociado.

Most patients developing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after combat or very stressful events present all symptoms described in Criterion B3 of the DSM-IV, which includes different types of perceptual disturbances. There is no precise reference, however, as to secondary delusions as these are generally considered to be symptoms of a different illness and so the diagnosis of two different disorders is made, without taking into consideration the origin or evolution of these delusions. The objective of this paper is to describe the origin of delusions in patients with PTSD presenting with severe perceptual disturbances without these disturbances implying an associated diagnosis.