[Symptoms, diagnosis and therapy of post-traumatic stress disorder].

More and more studies have been carried out on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in recent years which deal with classification, epidemiology, etiology and therapy. The problems in classifying PTSD result from the differences in the duration and in the subjective assessment of the disorder. Empirical research on psychotherapeutic intervention is still scarce. The article reviews and compares the therapeutic approaches described in the literature. In view of their theoretical foundation and the results of empirical research, interventions based on behavioral therapy have the strongest chance of being effective.