Page 144 - Post-traumatic stress disorder in adults with mild intellectual disability: Screening, assessment, and brief intensive EMDR therapy

Chapter 6
Conclusion
This dissertation aimed to improve the identification, diagnostic assessment,
and treatment of PTSD in adults with MID-BIF. The case of Hilda, introduced
in the General introduction (Chapter 1), illustrated how PTSD can remain
unnoticed and how weekly trauma-focused treatment may be difficult to
sustain for individuals with MID-BIF. Taken together, the studies in this
dissertation show that several of these barriers can be addressed. The
findings indicate that PTSD can be recognised more systematically in
adults with MID-BIF by using instruments that are adapted and validated
for these individuals, such as the DITS-ID and the TS-ID. In addition, brief
intensive EMDR therapy with rotating therapists was effective in reducing
PTSD symptoms in our group of adults with MID-BIF, PTSD, and severe
behavioural problems. However, consistent with the pattern observed in
Study 3, these treatment effects were largely confined to PTSD symptoms
and did not consistently extend to improvements in behavioural problems
or adaptive functioning. For individuals like Hilda, this combination of earlier
screening, structured diagnostic assessment, and accessible intensive
trauma-focused treatment may offer a more timely, tailored, and realistic
pathway to care than is currently the case.
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