Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common, distressing, and debilitating consequence
of the experience of extremely stressful life events, exemplified by combat, sexual
assault, torture, or natural disasters. Although the majority of people exposed to
these extreme events recover within days to months, long-term follow-up of Vietnam
Veterans and survivors of the Nazi Death Camps indicate that for many traumatized
people, symptoms persist for decades, perhaps for the rest of their lives (
1
,
2
). The very persistence of the impact of what can be a single life experience suggests
that traumatization profoundly engages neuroplasticity mechanisms. In addition, compromised
neuroplasticity may be a factor preventing individuals with PTSD from benefiting from
available social supports and from psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for PTSD.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 23,
2012
Received:
March 19,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial of d-Cycloserine to Enhance Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress DisorderBiological PsychiatryVol. 71Issue 11
- PreviewPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex and debilitating anxiety disorder, and, although prolonged exposure therapy has been proven effective, many patients remain symptomatic after treatment. In other anxiety disorders, the supplementary use of d-cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist at the glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, showed promise in enhancing treatment effects. We examined whether augmentation of prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD with DCS enhances treatment efficacy.
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