Ptsd - Articles - Page 7 | CARLAT PUBLISHING

The Latest, Greatest Treatments for PTSD

June 1, 2007

Daniel Carlat, MD

At least in Britain, it’s official: psychotherapy works better than medication for PTSD. You shouldn’t be too surprised. The last time we covered PTSD (TCPR April 2004) we reviewed the SSRIs and found them to have evidence of only modest efficacy.

Topics in the Diagnosis and Treatment of PTSD

June 1, 2007

David Osser, MD

David N. Osser, MD. Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, Brockton, Massachusetts.

Dr. Osser has disclosed that he has no significant relationships with or financial interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. Osser, as an attending psychiatrist at a VA unit in which you evaluate many patients with PTSD, how do you typically approach establishing a valid and reliable diagnosis of PTSD in your patients?

Common PTSD Drug Doesn’t Really Help

February 1, 2007

Ivan Oransky, MD

Guanfacine is an alpha-2 agonists approved for the treatment of hypertension, but commonly prescribed for posttraumatic stress disorder. Like clonidine, another alpha-2 agonist, guanfacine is believed to decrease norepinephrine release from noradrenergic neurons during states of heightened arousal.

SSRIs for PTSD: Just How Effective Are They?

April 1, 2004

Daniel Carlat, MD

Daniel Carlat, MD Dr. Carlat has disclosed that he has no significant relationships with or financial interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Strangely enough, there are only two medications FDA-approved for PTSD--Zoloft (sertraline) and Paxil (paroxetine). This is despite the fact that PTSD is a common problem, with a lifetime prevalence of between 5 and 10%, and can be extremely debilitating.

Therapy for PTSD: What You Should Know

April 1, 2004

Daniel Carlat, MD

Daniel Carlat, MD Dr. Carlat has disclosed that he has no significant relationships with or financial interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

As you can see from this issue's lead article, SSRIs help alleviate core PTSD symptoms, but hardly roar by the placebo response rate in clinical trials. And anytime the placebo effect is this robust, you can predict that psychotherapy will be very effective. This is certainly true in the world of PTSD.

Off-Label Nostrums for PTSD

April 1, 2004

Daniel Carlat, MD

Daniel Carlat, MD Dr. Carlat has disclosed that he has no significant relationships with or financial interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Let's face it, when our patients are in distress, we use whatever meds we think might be helpful, whether the FDA has given its blessing or not. Not a single one of the nostrums discussed in this article is FDA-approved for PTSD, but they are all commonly used when nothing else works.

Edna Foa, Ph.D., On Therapy for PTSD

April 1, 2004

Edna Foa, Ph.D.

Edna Foa, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Director, Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety University of Pennsylvania Financial Disclosure: Dr. Foa is the recipient of research grants from Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Cephalon Inc.

TCR: Dr. Foa, how common is PTSD? Dr. Foa: The epidemiological studies tell us that 60% of men in the United States and over 50% of women have been traumatized at least once in their lifetime.

Using SSRIs For PTSD

April 1, 2004

Laura Wolfe, M.D., is an adult psychiatrist who works for Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara, California. Her experience treating a man with PTSD is helpful in understanding the role of SSRIs.