Post-traumatic stress disorder
Also known as: PTSD · trauma
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Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Adults
American Psychological Association (APA) · 2025
A US guideline on interventions for treating PTSD in adults, developed from systematic evidence review with consideration of benefits and harms, patient values and preferences, and applicability across populations and care settings. The 2025 edition is the version currently posted by the issuing body.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
NICE (UK) · 2018 · NG116
UK national guidance on recognising, assessing and managing PTSD in children, young people and adults. Its stated aim is to reduce PTSD symptoms such as anxiety, sleep disturbance and concentration difficulties. A review completed in April 2025 found no new evidence requiring changes.
US vs EU key differences
- EMDR is placed differently: the American Psychological Association's 2025 guideline lists EMDR only as a conditional second-line option behind CBT, cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure, whereas NICE offers EMDR as a standard treatment for adults presenting more than three months after a traumatic event. source
- Medication positioning differs in emphasis: NICE says SSRIs or venlafaxine should be considered only if the person has a preference for drug treatment, while the US guideline suggests fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline or venlafaxine as conditional treatment options alongside psychotherapy. source
- Version currency is reversed relative to most pairs here: the US guideline was reissued in 2025, while NICE NG116 still dates to 2018. source
- NICE adds explicit prevention-side prohibitions absent from the US treatment guideline, telling clinicians not to offer psychologically focused debriefing and not to use drug treatments to prevent PTSD. source
What changed recently
- US2017 → 20252025-01-01
The 2025 APA guideline replaces the 2017 edition, which rested on a single systematic review, and instead draws on 15 systematic reviews while weighing outcomes beyond PTSD symptom scores. It gives strong recommendations to cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure and trauma-focused CBT as first-line treatment for adults, with EMDR carried as a conditional recommendation.
source ↗curation confidence 90% - EUCG26 (2005) → NG1162018-12-05
NG116 updates and replaces the 2005 CG26 guideline, adding new recommendations on access to care, transitions between services, care principles and information-giving, and support for people with complex needs such as coexisting conditions. It also sets age-specific rules absent from the earlier version, restricting EMDR in 7- to 17-year-olds to those who do not respond to or engage with trauma-focused CBT, and ruling out drug treatment for PTSD in under-18s.
source ↗curation confidence 90%
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