Tonic immobility during re-experiencing the traumatic event in posttraumatic stress disorder

Rianne A de Kleine; Muriel A Hagenaars; Agnes van Minnen

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2018.06.051

Tonic immobility during re-experiencing the traumatic event in posttraumatic stress disorder

Psychiatry Res. 2018 Dec:270:1105-1109. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.06.051. Epub 2018 Jun 21.

Authors

Rianne A de Kleine¹, Muriel A Hagenaars², Agnes van Minnen³

Affiliations

¹ Leiden University, Institute of Psychology, Wassenaarseweg 52, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands.; Overwaal Centre of Expertise for Anxiety Disorders, OCD and PTSD, Institution for Integrated Mental Health Care Pro Persona, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.a.de.kleine@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
² Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
³ Overwaal Centre of Expertise for Anxiety Disorders, OCD and PTSD, Institution for Integrated Mental Health Care Pro Persona, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute, NijCare, Nijmegen the Netherlands; PSYTREC, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

PMID: 30041894
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.06.051

Abstract

Tonic Immobility (TI) is an evolved defence response, characterized by physical immobility. Peritraumatic TI has been linked to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, samples sizes in clinical studies have been small, and little is known about TI reactions post trauma, for instance during trauma reminders. The prevalence of peritraumatic TI and TI during re-experiencing the traumatic event was examined by self-report in 184 patients with chronic PTSD. Moderate peritraumatic TI was reported by 26.6% of the participants (n = 49) and extreme peritraumatic TI by 52.2% (n = 96). During re-experiencing the traumatic event, 35.3% (n = 65) reported moderate TI, and 37.0% (n = 68) extreme TI. Peritraumatic TI was related to PTSD symptom severity and TI during re-experiencing mediated this relationship. In line with previous findings, reports of peritraumatic TI were high among PTSD patients. In addition, we showed that it often re-occurred during re-experiencing the traumatic event. The prevalence of TI at different stages post trauma warrants future study.

Keywords: Defence responses; Mediation; Peritraumatic reactions; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Re-experiencing; Tonic immobility.

MeSH terms

Adult
Chronic Disease
Female
Humans
Immobility Response, Tonic*
Male
Middle Aged
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology*