Flooding for combat-related stress disorders: Assessment of anxiety reduction across traumatic memories

An issue of major concern in the behavioral treatment of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) is the extent to which the extinction of anxiety to the memory of one event generalizes to other traumatic events that the individual may have experienced. In the present study each of two Vietnam veterans presented multiple traumatic events from combat which reoccurred in the form of intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks. Using imaginal flooding as the treatment, it was possible to document the effect of treating the memory of one traumatic event upon the anxiety-provoking nature of the remaining traumas. For the first patient, subjective units of distress measures (SUDS) verified treatment efficacy and provided some evidence for generalization of extinction along thematic (stimulus) cues. With the second patient, physiological data in conjunction with SUDS ratings documented the relative independence of the anxiety associated with different traumatic events. © 1982 Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy.

Duke Scholars

Author John A. Fairbank Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychia ...