Healthy St. Mary's partnership to address substance abuse prevention
Dr. Meena Brewster, the county's Health Officer and director of the St. Mary's County Health Department, is calling for community-wide action to address substance abuse prevention and control. "Our community needs to come together to address this issue.
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Ohio Launches Youth Drug Abuse Prevention Initiative, “Start Talking!”
COLUMBUS – As we focus on our New Year's resolutions for 2014, Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich and First Lady Karen W. Kasich urge Ohio families to adopt a pledge for the coming year: a pledge that will help keep their children safe from the tragedies that …
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Kasich launches youth drug abuse prevention program
Kasich, with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and members of his cabinet at his side, said Start Talking will involve parents, teachers coaches and the students themselves in helping end the drug abuse he said is in every town, in every corner of the …
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More Moms Losing Kids in Family Court Drug Wars
The DEC movement follows the passage of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act on prenatal drug exposure and potential harm to children by exposure to any presence of illegal drugs. Under the 2003 law, states are required to have procedures for …
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St. Mary's Co. Gov. News Briefs
Dr. Meena Brewster, the county's Health Officer and director of the St. Mary's County Health Department, is calling for community-wide action to address substance abuse prevention and control. "Our community needs to come together to address this issue.
Read more on Southern Maryland Online

Question by James R: What are the best medications currently available to treat PTSD?
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. And why are the medicatiosn you selected effective at treating it? Please, serious, informed answers only. Thanks everyone. Best answer gets 10 points.

Best answer:

Answer by bmac
There are a lot of treatment options. Some medication (it is an anxiety disorder) so some SSRI antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can be helpful. But most helpful is intense therapy/counseling. PTSD survivors have to work THROUGH the trauma. Medication alone won’t help much.

Answer by you_me_us16
Treatment of PTSD

A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet

This fact sheet describes elements common to many treatment modalities for PTSD, including education, exposure, exploration of feelings and beliefs, and coping-skills training. Additionally, the most common treatment modalities are discussed, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy, EMDR, group treatment, and psychodynamic treatment.

Common Components of PTSD Treatment
Treatment for PTSD typically begins with a detailed evaluation and the development of a treatment plan that meets the unique needs of the survivor. Generally, PTSD-specific treatment is begun only after the survivor has been safely removed from a crisis situation. If a survivor is still being exposed to trauma (such as ongoing domestic or community violence, abuse, or homelessness), is severely depressed or suicidal, is experiencing extreme panic or disorganized thinking, or is in need of drug or alcohol detoxification, it is important to address these crisis problems as a part of the first phase of treatment.

It is important that the first phase of treatment include educating trauma survivors and their families about how persons get PTSD, how PTSD affects survivors and their loved ones, and other problems that commonly come along with PTSD symptoms. Understanding that PTSD is a medically recognized anxiety disorder that occurs in normal individuals under extremely stressful conditions is essential for effective treatment.
Exposure to the event via imagery allows the survivor to re-experience the event in a safe, controlled environment, while also carefully examining his or her reactions and beliefs in relation to that event.
One aspect of the first treatment phase is to have the survivor examine and resolve strong feelings such as anger, shame, or guilt, which are common among survivors of trauma.
Another step in the first phase is to teach the survivor to cope with posttraumatic memories, reminders, reactions, and feelings without becoming overwhelmed or emotionally numb. Trauma memories usually do not go away entirely as a result of therapy but become manageable with the mastery of new coping skills.
Therapeutic Approaches Commonly Used to Treat PTSD:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) involves working with cognitions to change emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Exposure therapy is one form of CBT that is unique to trauma treatment. It uses careful, repeated, detailed imagining of the trauma (exposure) in a safe, controlled context to help the survivor face and gain control of the fear and distress that was overwhelming during the trauma. In some cases, trauma memories or reminders can be confronted all at once (“flooding”). For other individuals or traumas, it is preferable to work up to the most severe trauma gradually by using relaxation techniques and by starting with less upsetting life stresses or by taking the trauma one piece at a time (“desensitization”).

Along with exposure, CBT for trauma includes:

· learning skills for coping with anxiety (such as breathing retraining or biofeedback) and negative thoughts (“cognitive restructuring”),

· managing anger,

· preparing for stress reactions (“stress inoculation”),

· handling future trauma symptoms,

· addressing urges to use alcohol or drugs when trauma symptoms occur (“relapse prevention”), and

· communicating and relating effectively with people (social skills or marital therapy).

Pharmacotherapy (medication) can reduce the anxiety, depression, and insomnia often experienced with PTSD, and in some cases, it may help relieve the distress and emotional numbness caused by trauma memories. Several kinds of antidepressant drugs have contributed to patient improvement in most (but not all) clinical trials, and some other classes of drugs have shown promise. At this time, no particular drug has emerged as a definitive treatment for PTSD. However, medication is clearly useful for symptom relief, which makes it possible for survivors to participate in psychotherapy.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new treatment for traumatic memories that involves elements of exposure therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy combined with techniques (eye movements, hand taps, sounds) that create an alternation of attention back and forth across the person’s midline. While the theory and research are still evolving for this form of treatment, there is some evidence that the therapeutic element unique to EMDR, attentional alternation, may facilitate the accessing and processing of traumatic material.

Group treatment is often an ideal therapeutic setting because trauma survivors are able to share traumatic material within the safety, cohesion, and empathy provided by other survivors. As group members achieve greater understanding and resolution of their trauma, they often feel more confident and able to trust. As they discuss and share how they cope with trauma-related shame, guilt, rage, fear, doubt, and self-condemnation, they prepare themselves to focus on the present rather than the past. Telling one’s story (the “trauma narrative”) and directly facing the grief, anxiety, and guilt related to trauma enables many survivors to cope with their symptoms, memories, and other aspects of their lives.

Brief psychodynamic psychotherapy focuses on the emotional conflicts caused by the traumatic event, particularly as they relate to early life experiences. Through the retelling of the traumatic event to a calm, empathic, compassionate, and nonjudgmental therapist, the survivor achieves a greater sense of self-esteem, develops effective ways of thinking and coping, and learns to deal more successfully with intense emotions. The therapist helps the survivor identify current life situations that set off traumatic memories and worsen PTSD symptoms.

Psychiatric disorders that commonly co-occur with PTSD

Psychiatric disorders that commonly co-occur with PTSD include depression, alcohol/substance abuse, panic disorder, and other anxiety disorders. Although crises that threaten the safety of the survivor or others must be addressed first, the best treatment results are achieved when both PTSD and the other disorder(s) are treated together rather than one after the other. This is especially true for PTSD and alcohol/substance abuse.

Complex PTSD

Complex PTSD (sometimes called “Disorder of Extreme Stress”) is found among individuals who have been exposed to prolonged traumatic circumstances, especially during childhood, such as childhood sexual abuse. Developmental research is revealing that many brain and hormonal changes may occur as a result of early, prolonged trauma, and these changes contribute to difficulties with memory, learning, and regulating impulses and emotions. Combined with a disruptive, abusive home environment that does not foster healthy interaction, these brain and hormonal changes may contribute to severe behavioral difficulties (such as impulsivity, aggression, sexual acting out, eating disorders, alcohol/drug abuse, and self-destructive actions), emotional regulation difficulties (such as intense rage, depression, or panic), and mental difficulties (such as extremely scattered thoughts, dissociation, and amnesia). As adults, these individuals often are diagnosed with depressive disorders, personality disorders, or dissociative disorders. Treatment often takes much longer than with regular PTSD, may progress at a much slower rate, and requires a sensitive and structured treatment program delivered by a trauma specialist.

Janneke Sobeck: Death and denial: substance abuse in Winona
The Winona County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) is a coalition in its infancy, seeking widespread representation from various sectors of our community. Our alliance objectives are to prevent substance abuse among our youth and build …
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Politicians, community members discuss heroin problem in Hudson
There was also discussion about more education and prevention programs in schools and efforts being made through the St. Croix County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition to bring communities together to prevent substance abuse locally. For more …
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TINA GUMMERSON: Drug prevention is working
The point is drug prevention IS working. There has been an overall downward trend in alcohol and other drug use nationwide since the early '90s. However, there are still too many people using drugs and too many public health and safety problems in our …
Read more on Galesburg Register-Mail

Boyd gets funds for teen drug treatment center
Recovery Kentucky utilizes a peer-based model in which addicts in different stages of recovery work together to get and stay sober. The Ashland facility will be the 17th … Almost $ 19 million will be used to start a grant program to fund comprehensive …
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Treatment Research Institute Receives Million Grant from Conrad N. Hilton …
Recommend: 0. The Treatment Research Institute (TRI) has been awarded a $ 3 million grant over three years by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to develop and test an innovative new approach to substance abuse prevention, education and intervention for …
Read more on 4-traders (press release)

Professor Probes Psychedelic Drugs for a Cure to Nicotine Addiction
“I always thought, 'I'm going to quit—this is my last pack,' ” says Bessant, 64, now living in Silver Spring and semiretired from his work making mounts for museum exhibits. “A big percentage of packs I bought were the last … Psilocybin is known to …
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Aid in Recovery Comments on Recent Study of Naltrexone for use in Opioid …
Aid in Recovery released a statement today commenting on a recent study into the effectiveness of Naltrexone in treating addiction to opioids. Aid in Recovery has said that it will stay abreast of all clinical research regarding this drug, in order to …
Read more on PR Web (press release)

The Cost of Addiction in Maine
In that same State report, dollars invested in substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery is just 3.3% of total costs. The State Office for Substance Abuse cites studies that show for every $ 1 invested in treatment, there is $ 7 cost offsets …
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State grant to help local colleges with substance abuse prevention
The N.H. Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services awarded a $ 571,617 grant to Cheshire County on behalf of Franklin Pierce, Keene State, Monadnock Voices for Prevention and Anna Adachi-Mejia, a doctor and professor at Dartmouth College. Teams at both …
Read more on The Keene Sentinel