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OCTOBER 12, 2016

When a Stressful Event Sticks

Traumatic Stress Disorders Can Plague Surgeons; Psychiatrist Describes Technique Helpful in Erasing Ill Effects

By Christina Frangou

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The patient was a surgeon in his late 50s who was considering retirement.

He felt overwhelmed by anxiety about a malpractice suit—not that he’d been sued for malpractice. He’d never been named in a suit. But the fear of a malpractice case gnawed at him in the operating room (OR), to the point where it was difficult for him to get through a case.

So he made an appointment with Daniel Kuhn, a New York City–based psychiatrist who specializes in treating