Question: Do you think that PTSD can be cured?

anon answered on 17 Mar 2021:

Hi MissH,

I think with any mental health problem there is unlikely to currently have a cure. This is for a few reasons, but mostly because we still don’t fully understand the nature of any mental health, including PTSD. Having said that, there are a few areas of treatments that can (for some to a really large degree) really help people.
I think the most exciting and new treatment is actually in the (legal) use of the drug ketamine! Compared to say antidepressants or CBT, it’s a very rapid response to improve symptoms. It works by changing the stress response in the brain and impacts the formation of traumatic memories (which can be a really hard and persistent symptom for all types of trauma)
There is also something called ‘EMDR’ – eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, which involves moving your eyes side to side whilst recalling the trauma. But no one really know why it works, and a lot of psychologists (myself included!) are not convinced.