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Clark, Josh. "How Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Works." HowStuffWorks.com. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/ptsd.htm> 07 September 2008.

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Medication for PTSD

A combination of counseling and medication is often used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Prescription medicine has been shown to make patients more receptive to counseling and help reduce PTSD symptoms.

One type of drug, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), is already being used to treat some symptoms of PTSD. This type of drug is the only medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of PTSD. Its most widely recognized brand names are Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil. SSRIs have been shown to reduce depression and anxiety in patients.

medicine for ptsd

Photo courtesy morgueFile
Antidepressant SSRIs like Prozac are the
only type of drug approved by the FDA to treat PTSD.

While SSRIs help to alleviate symptoms and can make PTSD sufferers more receptive to counseling, another drug, D-cycloserine (DCS) may have a more direct effect on treating PTSD. DCS is already known for its ability to separate memories from their association to a stimulus (memory extinction) and is being evaluated for its potential to diminish the fear esponse in PTSD patients by possibly removing the fears they associate with memories of a traumatic event.

Propranolol, a beta-blocker, is also being studied to determine its effects on PTSD symptoms like hyper-arousal and their secondary effects like sleeplessness. The drug may also prove to be useful as an agent that can block the creation of fear memories from an event.

In the next section, we'll learn about some cutting-edge research and therapy for PTSD.

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