ABSTRACT
Road accidents are a common experience in the US, as illustrated by the fact of over 3.5 million individuals suffering personal injury in 1992. In addition to the incidence of personal injury, epidemiological studies have shown that being involved in an accident on the road is one of the leading causes of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Kuch describe success using primarily behavioural approaches with ten out of twelve cases of PTSD in road accident survivors. Burstein reports good results with seventy road accident survivors with PTSD, who were treated with imipramine (a tricyclic antidepressant), behaviour therapy, and/or psychotherapy. Horne reports the successful treatment of seven road accident survivors, three of whom were diagnosed as having PTSD; McCaffrey and Fairbank also describe two cases of successful treatment of PTSD following road accident. The diagnosis was reached independently of treatment and was, in fact, the basis of recommending treatment following the initial interview.
