We report a case of posttraumatic stress disorder. A 14 year-old female was hospitalized due to posttraumatic stress symptoms including nightmare, and depressive symptoms including suicide ideation. A psychoeducation program for nightmare of PTSD based on imagery rescripting was conducted with pharmacotherapy. Her nightmares became less frequent and she discharged after the improvement of PTSD and depressive symptoms.

In modern psychiatry, anxiety disorder is treated by reducing the degree and number of morbid symptoms. These symptoms are induced by morbid anxiety (biologically abnormal emotion). At one time, it was thought that morbid anxiety was produced by impulses occurring from the `es' (S. Freud) and thought discrepancy (the `gap' between the ideal self-image produced by the `desire for life' and the self-state produced by the `fear of death') (M. Morita). Both ideas suggest that the appearance of symptoms results from the collapse or frustration of desires. We therefore investigated whether or not these symptoms disappear when collapsed needs are dissolved.

We encountered a 22-year-old female outpatient suffering from several morbid symptoms, including anorexia, obsessive-compulsive behavior, drug abuse, and insomnia. Based on her life history and chief complaints, it was suggested that she was suffering from collapsed `love need'. She was therefore treated with psychotherapy that focused on the restoration of her collapsed `love need'. Although we did not intervene therapeutically to resolve morbid symptoms, all of these morbid symptoms disappeared as soon as the `love need' was satisfied six months after starting psychotherapy.