title: Imagery and posttraumatic stress disorder: an overview.
abstract: A review of theories of traumatic neurosis or posttraumatic stress disorder reveals a relative neglect of the role of posttraumatic imagery. The broad range of imagery has not been recognized, nor its role in the disorder adequately formulated. A two-dimensional framework for understanding posttraumatic stress disorder based on 1) repetitions of trauma-related images, affects, somatic states, and actions and 2) defensive functioning puts into perspective the centrality of traumatic imagery, implies a reorganization of DSM-III criteria, points to new directions for research, and clarifies diagnostic and clinical confusion.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal; D003209:Concentration Camps; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004325:Dreams; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D008568:Memory; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012107:Research Design; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D014857:Warfare