Have you had one or more traumatic or extremely stressful experiences that have shaken your life? You are not alone.
Around 21% of the German population experience at least one potentially traumatic event in the course of their lives (Maercker, 2018). The reactions to such events are diverse and can range from no or short-term stress to serious mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and almost any other psychological sequelae. Although trauma-related disorders are associated with considerable suffering for those affected, they often go unrecognized and untreated.
Increasing crisis situations such as pandemics, wars and advancing climate change reinforce the need to improve care for people after extremely stressful events. Research findings support this by pointing to the increasing number of crises and the expected increase in trauma-related disorders and other psychopathological consequences. In this challenging situation, approaches for the prevention and early detection of trauma-related disorders are essential.
App-based prevention services offer a promising opportunity to reach those affected across the board and provide support at an early stage. Such applications can help to reduce stigmatization and reach a larger number of those affected. However, there is currently a lack of empirically evaluated digital prevention services.
This is where our "MentalSpace: Seeking Prevention After Critical Events" project comes in. In October 2024, a pilot study was successfully completed in which those affected were asked about their needs and barriers to using a prevention app.
