PTSD: Risk Assessment and Early Management

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating and pernicious disorder that occurs in a significant proportion of survivors exposed to trauma. Early interventions may mitigate the development of PTSD among survivors who have risk factors. Beyond PTSD risk, survivors' initial distress may require immediate interventions. This article outlines clinically pertinent predictors of PTSD risk that inform early intervention decisions, delineates stress management approaches at the early aftermath of trauma, and discusses barriers to receiving mental health care by those at high risk for PTSD, and ways to mitigate them. [ Psychiatr Ann. 2019;49(7):299–306.]