Edited and reviewed by: Changiz Mohiyeddini, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, United States
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Globally, treatment of poor mental health including psychological trauma is at a precipice. Long waiting lists associated with a lack of trained providers and high costs of treatment mean most people affected rarely receive adequate, evidence-based treatments. Among those who do, treatment options rarely fully alleviate symptoms, while a concurrent decline in physical health among people exposed to trauma, is too often accepted as inevitable—referred to as a form of “therapeutic nihilism.” Our current approaches to treating the psychological consequences of trauma exposure fail to routinely address the systemic impacts within the body, despite evidence of demand for and acceptability of body and lifestyle-focused interventions. One can simply look at the remarkable success of Besel Van Der Kolks “
Psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have profound negative effects on biopsychosocial functioning (American Psychiatric Association,
The lack of focus on lifestyle behaviors in frontline treatments for trauma survivors is not surprising, given little attention given to them in the current treatment guidelines. Specifically, the American Psychological Association (APA) makes no mention of physical activity, exercise, or sport within their most recent treatment guidelines for PTSD (American Psychological Association,
It is for these reasons, the present Research Topic
Recent research suggests augmentation of trauma-focused therapy with aerobic exercise may enhance the therapeutic effect of these treatments (Bryant et al.,
To date, most lifestyle and trauma research uses quantitative methods. Within are two qualitative studies that provide much needed context to the field. The first study is a mixed-methods study of trauma survivors that seeks to understand what is needed to develop a survivor-informed evidence-based weightlifting program (
Lifestyle intervention and trauma research is not just about reducing symptom severity.
The following Research Topic contains an impressive array LIFTS research from an international body of experts. This Research Topic of studies highlights the value and importance of lifestyle interventions in trauma treatment paradigms. However, this research and the lukewarm reception of lifestyle interventions by APA, ISTSS and other governing bodies also underscore the need for further high-quality research to identify critical mechanisms of action, develop evidence-based best practices, and effective implementation/dissemination strategies. Thus, this should serve as a call to action for all LIFTS researchers, clinicians, and community members. Please join us as other LIFTS community members as we move the field forward by following us @LIFTS_SIG on Twitter/X.
JW: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. EC: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. SR: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. SR was funded by an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellowship (APP2017506).
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.