Citation

Ebert A, Dyck MJ. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2004; 24(6): 617-635.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth 6845, Western Australia. a.ebert@exchange.curtin.edu.au

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cpr.2004.06.002

PMID

15385091

Abstract

Exposure to extreme interpersonal stress, exemplified by the experience of torture, represents a threat to the psychological integrity of the victim. The experience is likely to result in mental death, in the loss of the victim's pretrauma identity. Mental death is characterized by loss of core beliefs and values, distrust, and alienation from others, shame and guilt, and a sense of being permanently damaged. Mental death is a primary feature of a distinct posttrauma syndrome, complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is refractory to standard exposure therapies. We identify cognitive mechanisms that mediate the symptoms of complex PTSD, and suggest how current treatments need to be modified to obtain enhanced treatment outcomes.

Language: en