Evaluating Traumatic Stress During Prolonged Disruptive Events

This chapter draws from insights presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) ‘Digital Tools for Prevention, Mitigation, and Treatment of Traumatic Stress Responses in Terror and War - Contemporary Practices and Novel Insights’, held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from September 10th to 13th, 2024. It presents a scientific argument for extending the boundaries of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to better capture traumatic psychopathology (TP) during protracted conflicts. It highlights PTSD’s limitations in characterizing responses under prolonged multimodal stress. Discusses the role of disorder maintaining factors like loneliness and despondency in depleting survivors coping capacities and outlines the roles and limitations of digital tools in detection and intervention. By addressing survivorship and emerging digital solutions, this approach aims to reduce morbidity and optimize service delivery in high-demand conflict environments.