Assessment and Diagnosis of PTSD

Prevention of PTSD

Treatment of PTSD

Treatment of Nightmares

Treatment of PTSD with Co-Occurring Conditions

Document Overview

Design and created by Guideline Central in participation with the Veterans Health Administration / Department of Defense.

Management of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder

Veterans Health Administration / Department of Defense

Publication Date: Jul 1, 2023

Page Last Updated: May 5, 2026

Strength of Recommendations in GRADE

Strength	Interpretation	Implications for clinicians	Implications for policymakers
Strong for	Almost all informed patients would choose to receive the intervention	Should be accepted by most patients to whom it is offered	Should be adopted as policy
Weak for	Most informed patients would choose the intervention, but a sizable minority would not	Large role for education and shared decision-making	Requires stakeholder engagement and discussion
Weak against	Most informed patients would not choose the intervention, but a small minority would	Large role for education and shared decision-making	Requires stakeholder engagement and discussion
Strong against	Most patients should not receive the intervention	Should not be offered to patients	Should be adopted as policy

Document Overview

Document Title: Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder

Authoring Society: Veterans Health Administration / Department of Defense

Document Publication Date: Jul 1, 2023

Page Last Reviewed/Updated: May 5, 2026

Document Type: Guideline

Country of Publication: United States

Full Text Freely Available: Yes

Full Text Guideline: www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/MH/ptsd/

Supplemental Implementation Resources

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Scope: Assessment and Screening, Counseling, Diagnosis, Management, Treatment

Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)

D013313 - Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Keywords: Acute Stress Reaction, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, behavioral health

Inclusion Criteria: Female, Adult, Older Adult

Health Care Settings: Ambulatory, Outpatient

Intended Users: Addiction Treatment Specialist, Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Physician, Physician Assistant, Psychologist, Social Worker

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology

Number of Source Documents: 270

Literature Search Start Date: Thursday, January 1, 2009

Literature Search End Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Includes peer/external review process?: Yes

Includes public comment process?: No

Methodologist involvement?: Yes

Patient involvement?: Yes

Includes multi-disciplinary group?: Yes

Includes systematic review?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of evidence?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of recommendation?: Yes

Discloses funding source?: Yes

Discloses conflicts of interest?: Yes

Includes benefits/harms analysis with recommendations?: Yes

Management of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder

Assessment and Diagnosis of PTSD

Prevention of PTSD

Selective Prevention of PTSD

Indicated Prevention of PTSD

Treatment of PTSD

Treatment Selection

Psychotherapy

Pharmacotherapy

Augmentation Therapy

Non-pharmacologic Biological Treatments

Complementary, Integrative, and Alternative Approaches

Technology-based Treatment

Treatment of Nightmares

Treatment of PTSD with Co-Occurring Conditions

Strength of Recommendations in GRADE

Document Overview

Supplemental Implementation Resources

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology