A very good article on medications for combat treatment by the Sidran Institute...

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About Medications for Combat PTSD
By Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D.
Staff Psychiatrist, Boston VA Outpatient Clinic

A note to the reader: This article is applicable to anyone who seeks to understand the role of medication within the treatment framework of PTSD. Although it specifically addresses the veteran community, we have found the information given to be extremely valuable and well suited for any reader seeking information on this topic.

Dr. Shay sincerely regrets that he is not available for consultation on psychopharmacology or questions you may have related to this article. If you would like further information in regard to medication and PTSD, please contact the Sidran Help Desk.

A. Point of View

Everything I say here is my point of view, and carries no claim of special authority. Also, what I say here is no way complete. I have left out many important subjects, such as drug interactions, what medical conditions forbid the use of a given drug, overdoses and toxicity, and most specific side-effects. Also, many psychiatrists who also care about combat veterans will disagree with what I say here, particularly about the benzodiazepines like Ativan. Combat PTSD is moral, social, philosophical, and spiritual injury. The biological nature of human beings is to be moral, social, philosophical, and spiritual, so the injury also shows itself as medical disorders.

Healing is psychological, social, spiritual—no medicine can cure combat PTSD. However, healing can never mean a return to 17-year old innocence. Healing means building a good human life with others—a life that a veteran can embrace as his own.

Combat trauma brings about long-lasting changes in brain chemistry. We do not know whether these are permanent or can be reversed by psychological/social healing. A few existing medications can help some men with some symptoms of PTSD. We also do not know whether this changes the long-term outcome for the better, but the human payoff in reduced suffering is unmistakable.

Read the full article here


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