Posted by Hugh on February 14, 2016, at 20:50:15
In reply to Re: Morning Terror. Please, please read this., posted by Hugh on January 20, 2016, at 14:03:28
The New York Times recently published an article about using the beta blocker propranolol to treat arachnophobia and PTSD. The article mentions that for PTSD, it appears that six sessions with propranolol while thinking or writing about a traumatic event appears to be the most effective way of using it. Here are some excerpts from the article:
Dr. Kindt assessed the subjects' anxiety when they were shown the spider the first time, then again three months later, and finally after a year. What she found was remarkable. Those who got the propranolol alone and those who got the placebo had no improvement in their anxiety. But the arachnophobes who were exposed to the spider and given the drug were able to touch the tarantula within days and, by three months, many felt comfortable holding the spider with their bare hands. Their fear did not return even at the end of one year.
How does this work? Well, propranolol blocks the effects of norepinephrine in the brain. This chemical, which is similar to adrenaline, enhances learning, so blocking it disrupts the way a memory is put back in storage after it is retrieved -- a process called reconsolidation.
These studies suggest that someday, a single dose of a drug, combined with exposure to your fear at the right moment, could free you of that fear forever. But there's a flip side to this story about how to undo emotional learning: how to strengthen it. We can do that with drugs as well, and may have been doing it for some time.
Anxiety enhances emotional memory. We all know that -- it's why you can easily forget where you put your wallet, but will never forget being attacked. This is the case because anxiety leads to the release of norepinephrine in the brain, which, again, strengthens emotional learning. It is also why we should think twice about casually prescribing stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall for young people who really dont need them. Stimulants also cause the release of norepinephrine and may enhance fear learning. So it is possible that taking stimulants could increase one's risk of developing PTSD when exposed to trauma.
Indeed, a study that will be published next month found that the escalating use of stimulants by the military in active duty soldiers, including those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, was strongly correlated with an increase in the rates of PTSD, even when controlling for other factors, like the rate of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The study examined the use of prescription stimulants, like Ritalin and Adderall, and the rates of PTSD in nearly 26,000 military service members between 2001 and 2008, and found that the incidence of PTSD increased along with the prescriptions.
By blocking the effect of norepinephrine and disrupting memory reconsolidation, we could perhaps reverse this process. The clear implication of these studies is that emotional memory is not permanent after all.
Here is the complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/opinion/sunday/a-drug-to-cure-fear.html
poster:Hugh
thread:499226
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160131/msgs/1086175.html