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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