Psychologists have found a new approach to helping people who have experienced something very difficult and then suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short. This disorder is like when terrible memories haunt a person and prevent them from living a normal life.
Typically, such people are helped by making them remember what happened repeatedly so that the event causes less painful emotions. This is a long process and is called cognitive behavioral therapy. But the fact is that not everyone has the willpower to go through this to the end, because it is not easy and takes a long time.
That’s where researchers from Boston came in and came up with a new method: a writing exercise. They asked people with PTSD to write about their scary experiences. And it worked! Moreover, it turned out that in this way you can achieve the same effect as with traditional therapy, but it will take much less time.
Such sessions, lasting only about an hour, helped patients cope with their traumas in an average of 6 meetings instead of the usual 12. And most importantly, they did not need to do any tasks at home – everything took place right in the sessions.
This is a pretty big breakthrough because it can help many people overcome their traumas more easily and return to a full life. But scientists say more research is needed to be sure of the method’s effectiveness. But so far everything looks promising.