Interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder in psychiatric practice across Europe: a trainees’ perspective

BACKGROUND With an annual prevalence of 0.9-2.6%, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is very common in clinical practice across Europe. Despite the fact that evidence-based interventions have been developed, there is no evidence on their implementation in clinical practice and in national psychiatric training programmes. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD The Early Career Psychiatrists Committee of the European Psychiatric Association conducted a survey in 23 European countries to explore implementation of evidence-based interventions for PTSD and training options. RESULTS The findings indicate that pharmacotherapy was available in the majority of the participating countries (n=19, 82.8%). However, psychological interventions were much less widespread. For example, psychoeducation was widely available in 52% of the countries (n=12), cognitive-behavioural therapy in 26.2% (n=6), and specific trauma-focused techniques were rarely available. Training on PTSD was part of the official training in 13 countries (56.5%), predominantly in the form of theoretical seminars. CONCLUSIONS Overall, this survey indicates that the treatment for PTSD is largely focused on pharmacotherapy, with psychological evidence-based interventions poorly available, especially outside specialized centres. Poor implementation is linked to the lack of official training in evidence-based interventions for psychiatric trainees across Europe.