PREVENT Study: Promoting Resilience Via Early Neurostimulation After Trauma
PTSD is one of the most universal and severe psychiatric disorders whose incidence continues to rise due to the common exposure to severe trauma in the United States and worldwide. After trauma, a proportion of individuals maintains high symptoms of PTSD and depression, which can persist for years. The early weeks following trauma present a unique opportunity to deliver early interventions that can prevent chronic PTSD and depression from occurring, and the researchers propose a brain-based intervention that will reduce reactivity to threat, an early risk mechanism for chronic PTSD. This study is being done to learn more about whether brain stimulation in the weeks after a trauma can change brain activity that is linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
• Men and women 18-65 years of age. (Assessed via self-reported and medical record-based Date of Birth)
• Trauma-exposed within the last 2 weeks (Endorsement of having experienced an event that could have caused death, serious injury, or sexual violence)
• High initial symptoms of PTSD related to the index trauma - PCL-5 \>30 AND at least 2 symptoms of hyperarousal.
• Low symptoms of PTSD related to a previous lifetime trauma - PCL-5\<31AND does not meet for all four DSM-5 clusters.
• Participants may be on psychotropic medication, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and anticonvulsants, but the dosage of the medication must be stable for at least 6 weeks and not change during the course of the study (Assessed via self-report during the screening phone call).
• Capable and willing to provide informed consent.