Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Oct;3(10):49-56.

The Relevance of Hispanic Culture to the Treatment of a Patient with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Melinda Fierros  1 , Christian Smith
Affiliations

The Relevance of Hispanic Culture to the Treatment of a Patient with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Melinda Fierros et al. Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2006 Oct.

Abstract

Cahill, et al.(1) discussed the importance of psychotherapy and psychotropic medications in the prevention and treatment of acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the September, 2005, issue of Psychiatry. In this article, we will specifically explore PTSD in the Hispanic population and present a composite case to demonstrate several clinical issues to consider when treating this population. This topic is timely and highly relevant to the practice of psychiatry as the Latino population continues to grow at a pace that far exceeds the capability of both current Latino/bilingual psychiatrists and the number of Latinos in the mental health provider pipeline. Given this great disparity, all psychiatrists need to be equipped with knowledge that will enable them to provide culturally sensitive care(2) that will result in better Hispanic patient outcomes.

Keywords: Hispanics; Latino; PTSD; psychotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cahill SP, Pontoski K, D'Olio CM. Posttraumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder II: Considerations for treatment and prevention. Psychiatry. 2005;2(9):34–46. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gonzalez GM. The emergence of Chicanos in the Twenty-First Century: Implications for counseling, research, and policy. J Multicult Couns Devel. 1997;25(2):1–10.
    1. Kulka RA, Schlenger WE, Fairbank JA, et al. rauma and the Vietnam War generation: Report of findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study 1990. New York: Brunner/Mazel; 1990.
    1. Ortega AN, Rosenheck R. Posttraumatic stress disorder among hispanic Vietnam veterans. Am J Psychiatry. 2000;157(4):615–9. - PubMed
    1. Pole N, Best SR, Metzler T, Marmar CR. Why are Hispanics at greater risk for PTSD? Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2005;11(2):144–61. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources