--- title: How Effective Are PTSD Treatments for Veterans? description: A new study suggests commonly used first-line treatments for PTSD like CPT in veterans may not work as well as medical experts once thought canonical: https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-04T15:00:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:19.205Z article:section: Health og:title: How Effective Are PTSD Treatments for Veterans? og:description: A new study suggests commonly used first-line treatments for PTSD like CPT in veterans may not work as well as medical experts once thought og:url: https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d929dda353c08e7/69885db7e20a871cc1a8c928/brain-ptsd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4827 og:image:height: 2715 og:image:alt: 539665361 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Effective Are PTSD Treatments for Veterans? twitter:description: A new study suggests commonly used first-line treatments for PTSD like CPT in veterans may not work as well as medical experts once thought twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d929dda353c08e7/69885db7e20a871cc1a8c928/brain-ptsd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Effective Are PTSD Treatments for Veterans? > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=588c0e5e-a5f9-47ee-be77-dd465e5058f4&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Healing Bobby [Watch (HLS stream): Healing Bobby](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uQA7elZ3.m3u8) (9:34)  _Published 2013-10-24. Directed by Peter van Agtmael, the latest Red Border Film tells the story of an Iraq War veteran turned comic who has made his injuries a part of his comedy_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 4, 2015 3:00 PM UTC  Human brain, illustration Human brain, illustration Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 4, 2015 3:00 PM UTC A [new study](http://media.jamanetwork.com/wp-content/handlers/downloader.php?a=16983) published Tuesday suggests commonly used first-line treatments for PTSD in veterans may not work as well as medical experts once thought. The number of American veterans who suffer from PTSD continues to be a serious national public health problem. Recent [data](http://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/) show that more than 200,000 Vietnam War veterans still have PTSD, and other research shows that around 13% of Iraq or Afghanistan veterans who experienced combat have PTSD. The numbers continue to climb.[ As TIME previously reported](http://time.com/3759627/unlocking-the-secrets-of-ptsd/), PTSD diagnoses among deployed troops grew by 400% from 2004 to 2012. Now new research, published Tuesday in the _Journal of the American Medical Association_, reveals that go-to treatments for the disorder may not be as effective as many in the medical community may have believed or hoped. To reach their findings, researchers from the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury at NYU Langone Medical Center reviewed 36 randomized control trials of psychotherapy treatments for veterans suffering from PTSD over a 35-year span. Two of the most commonly used treatments—and the most widely studied—are cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure (PE) therapy. CPT is a treatment that focuses on changing dysfunctional thoughts, and exposure therapy is meant to help patients face what’s causing them stress and fear. The research showed that while up to 70% of the men and women who received CPT or PE experienced symptom improvements, around two-thirds of people receiving the treatments still met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis after treatment. The researchers note that current veterans affairs policies emphasize the use of the two methods as treatments of choice. The researchers also argued that veterans with PTSD are likely to have worse outcomes from treatment compared to civilians with PTSD. Though the researchers are unsure why that is, there’s some speculation: “Compared to civilian traumas such as car accidents and natural disasters, military deployment involves repeated and extended trauma exposure,” says study author Maria M. Steenkamp, an assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone. “It also involves not just life-threat, but exposure to traumatic losses and morally compromising experiences that create shame and guilt.” Veterans are also more likely to have additional mental health issues such as anxiety or substance abuse, she adds. The researchers also raise the question of whether focusing on trauma during PTSD treatment is really that effective. Based on their review of the trials, they found that when CPT and PE were compared to non-trauma focused psychotherapy, patients showed similar improvement. However, not everyone agrees that the findings should be cast in such a light. Dr. Paula Schnurr, the executive director of the National Center for PTSD under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says there’s not consensus that veterans have a more difficult time overcoming PTSD symptoms compared to civilians, and adds that some people who treat veterans feel avoiding fears and trauma perpetuates problems, rather than processes them. In addition, symptom improvement is an important part of PTSD treatment since it improves veterans’ quality of life. Schnurr was not involved in the study, though some of her own research was analyzed in it. “If a person has a meaningful response, they have a meaningful improvement in their quality of life,” says Schnurr, adding that many treatments for other mental health conditions have similar outcomes. “As scientists we will always try to enhance the effectiveness of these treatments for more people…My takeaway message \[from the study\] is one of optimism and also encouragement for people to seek treatment.” The researchers say other treatment options should continue to be explored, and there are practitioners who are trying different methods, from acupuncture to healing touch therapy. [Another new study](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2015.8361) published Tuesday in _JAMA_ looked at 116 veterans with PTSD who either underwent mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy that focused on being present and non-judgmental in the moment or a present-centered group therapy that focused on current life problems. The results showed that those in the mindfulness group had a greater improvement in self-reported PTSD symptom severity. However, they were no more likely to lose their PTSD diagnosis. There may not be a cure yet for PTSD, but the amount of research looking into how to improve or innovate treatments is encouraging. Veterans who need support can find resources [here](http://www.ptsd.va.gov/apps/AboutFace/). ## Transcript When I was hit, I was in a coma, medically induced coma for two weeks. And I remember images of me being on a giant iceberg. It wasn't cold down. It really comfortable thing. I was really calm and peaceful at that time. And there's voices telling me that I'm going to be okay. Now I see that I will get to go to the beach. I will get to skydive again because I'm still here. There's so much to be thankful for and there's a lot of little things in life. You know, I could still stop and smell the roses. I could share my story and help somebody else. I don't care if it's a room of 100 or 1500. If one person out of that room changes their life for the better because of my story. Oh, my God, I got to keep doing this. This is what I'm here for, you guys. All different mistakes to be in your mind as seen in all. Of your world. He has been on the LRA. He has been on the Today Show. He is the one. And only by the end. Why is the other guy. I just got my booty fixed. You guys have booty I booty routine one go that way, one blew that way. Now you got to have a good time in life. You got to enjoy life and know what happens. Your host tonight. Yes. Open mic comedy. So throughout the night, both interviews, what. Are you ready to do. Once you get cooked? You hooked. I could have a bad day. Sometimes I just wake up in the morning and it's just that offset feeling and you just know it's going to be a bad day where everything irritates you and and you just need to figure out what it is that you really need to get out. Or it can be something trigger where I'm feeling happy, like, oh, yeah. And so it's a good day again. I'm happy to be alive and I forget that I can't do certain things that I have one hand or I forget what I look like. The day I got injured, it was, you know, an IED, a roadside bomb. I was burnt over 38% of my body. Like I thought my life was just over. It was done. And then on top of that, you got survivor's guilt. Like, why me? Why am I the only one to live through this? You know, I didn't want to be the only survivor. It's a horrible feeling to me. I need to learn more about these guys that lost their lives. And one of the family members, my driver, Rodney McCann, was I finally got in contact with Rodney, sister Chastity, and they told her to find me a yes. And she looked me up, left me a message on Facebook saying, Are you the guy I'm supposed to be looking for? I'm Rodney Sister. Did you know my brother? When I explained to her how I knew her brother that, you know, he was driving my Humvee that day that I was with him. She was so surprised because her family had no idea anybody live that day. They thought everybody had died. She sort of just amazes me. It was so happy that you made it through. I'm so happy that you're here. It's like breaks my heart. And I didn't know this your sister, because. Because of my disbelief, it's really going. I'm just going to do it. You got it? Because I wanted to dig. I wanted to ask for answers and what they did. No way. You say no. You play it because it's good for family Zero. Because you're like, it's that day to day. That day. Oh, I'm so sorry. I start cigarets. Cause I see you. You knows my ears. 14 And one of our friends asked her, Why is your dad have a homicide? It was in. Oh, my goodness. Wow. Right. Visiting his gravesite. Something I needed to do. I wanted to officially see him again and talk to him. Especially knowing him now. Even better. What a remarkable guy he is. And pay my respects. And there's the pain of that. We lost them. Oh, with the same time it's reminded me that I'm here and how important my mission is to continue on, to make people laugh, to let them know how precious life really is. Rodney was there this whole weekend. I felt his presence when I came up here to visit Grant in Houston. Grant he's a 12 year old boy now. I met when he was ten years old. He got burnt when he was two years old. Over 80% of his body was burnt. Those humans will never understand what it's like to be burnt. It's probably the most painful thing to recover from the surgeries. Surgeries are my biggest fear. I go back to Iraq in a second, but time I go to the surgery, I'm going to freak out. So, you know, I got to be there. If I can help Grant get through another surgery. Hey, that's that's what I got to do. In surgery with. You. He was going to have his arm done, but then he. His foot bothered his ankle farther anymore. What numbers? This 30. There's don't catch up. You stop growing. The top of his hand was the only thing that wasn't working. Well. And I got lucky. Like, right with the bends. You could see how it skipped crunched up in the vehicle. There's some tape with all the radio gear of that kind of help being crunched. I'm guessing all of a sudden this is a six year, six year next year. And so I get the prosthetic hand out. Thank you for taking time out of your visit. This is a lot to us, guy. We finally got to see. Life has its obstacles, but more on a deeper personal level. For me, being the sole survivor, that's the best revenge I can ever get. I'm the guy who did this to me. If I could help more people than that guy's ever hurt, that's one of the things, the positive things I think about, you know, with one of my petty parts and feeling bad for myself, you know, any one of those guys would love to trade with me. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/"},"headline":"How Effective Are PTSD Treatments for Veterans?","datePublished":"2015-08-04T15:00:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:19.205Z","description":"Though many treatments for PTSD can alleviate symptoms, veterans continue to meet the criteria for the disorder","url":"https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","Mental Health","Veterans","Stress","PTSD","Mental Illness","Therapy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d929dda353c08e7/69885db7e20a871cc1a8c928/brain-ptsd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d929dda353c08e7/69885db7e20a871cc1a8c928/brain-ptsd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"539665361","caption":"539665361","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/","name":"How Effective Are PTSD Treatments for Veterans?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Healing Bobby","description":"Directed by Peter van Agtmael, the latest Red Border Film tells the story of an Iraq War veteran turned comic who has made his injuries a part of his comedy","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uQA7elZ3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-10-24T15:13:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uQA7elZ3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/","duration":"PT9M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3982440/ptsd-veterans/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```