Traumatic and stressful life events are burdens in the psychosocial sphere and may be potentially harmful for the patient’s health. The general practitioner or the family doctor can help the patients using a psychotherapeutic approach, adequate psychopharmacotherapy, or - afterspecialized training - also unspecific methods of psychotherapy. The authors present a list of the most frequent life events and the recommended psychotherapeutic measures. In this part the authors deal mainly with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The psychotherapeutic approach in a life crisis is a standard of good medical practice.

        Key words: life events - life crisis - posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - psychotherapy - psychopharmacotherapy.