Question:
For adults with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) greater than 3 months duration, what is the most effective pharmacological intervention for decreasing PTSD symptoms?
Answer:
There is some very limited evidence, from very small trials with
substantial methodological flaws, to suggest that antipsychotic
drugs (specifically olanzapine and risperidone) may be effective in
treating the symptoms of chronic PTSD with non-combat origins.
Similarly, evidence from one very small, poor quality trial
indicated that nefazodone may be effective in treating combat
veterans with chronic PTSD. Two larger trials reported consistent
results indicating that paroxetine may be effective in reducing
both primary PTSD symptoms and depression symptoms in patients
chronic PTSD with a variety of trauma sources. No studies reported
comparisons of active treatments and it was therefore not possible
to assess the relative effectiveness of different treatment
options.
Further high quality research is needed particularly to compare
the effectiveness of different active treatments and to assess the
effectiveness of treatments in patients with combat-related
trauma.
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