Point of View: Should There be a Clinical Typology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?
- 1 April 1997
- journal article
- review article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
- Vol. 31 (2), 159-167
- https://doi.org/10.3109/00048679709073815
Abstract
Objective: The current classification of posttraumatic stress disorder in acute, chronic and delayed-onset types is incomplete and of limited usefulness. The present paper explores the possibilities of a clinically-based typology that would reflect both the patients' syndromic presentation and modern research findings. Method: Review of current clinical and research literature, with a critical examination of proposed typologies, parameters utilised, applicability and relevance; elaboration of theoretical and practical bases of a clinical typology of posttraumatic stress disorder. Results: None of the existing posttraumatic stress disorder typologies presents a clinically comprehensive scope. A typology supported by literature findings and clinical observations is proposed. The six clinical types are depressive, dissociative, somatomorphic, psychotomorphic, organomorphic and ‘neurotic-like’. Substance abuse and personality disorder-like variants remain as areas of investigation. Conclusions: The proposed typology, while accepting the nuclear manifestations of posttraumatic stress disorder, highlights prominent coexisting symptoms that define the clinical appearance of different patients. The typological approach in posttraumatic stress disorder does not carry the ambiguities of comorbidity, and facilitates a more specific and appropriate management of the cases.Keywords
This publication has 70 references indexed in Scilit:
- A prospective examination of post‐traumatic stress disorder in rape victimsJournal of Traumatic Stress, 1992
- Multiple Diagnosis in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The Role of War StressorsJournal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 1989
- Locus of control and combat‐related post‐traumatic stress disorder: The intervening role of battle intensity, threat appraisal and copingBritish Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1989
- Military Combat Psychiatry: A Historical ReviewPsychiatric Annals, 1987
- Conducting applied research on Vietnam combat-related post-traumatic stress disorderJournal of Clinical Psychology, 1987
- Cluster AnalysisPublished by SAGE Publications ,1984
- Establishment of Diagnostic Validity in Psychiatric Illness: Its Application to SchizophreniaAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, 1970
- Dr. Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689)Published by University of California Press ,1966
- Tough and Easy CulturesPsychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 1948
- The principles of psychology.Published by American Psychological Association (APA) ,1913