What do we know about preventing PTSD?
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a disorder occurring after a traumatic event with symptoms such as anxiety, nightmares, and avoidance of situations. Many people are familiar with it in military veterans or victims of rape.
A new study shows that the quick use of morphine in troops who had experienced serious physical injuries resulted in lower rates of PTSD symptoms later on. In the study, morphine was given within 1 hour of injury.
It isn’t clear why morphine might work to reduce the rate of PTSD. One hypothesis is that getting rid of pain lessens the change that PTSD will occur. Another hypothesis is that morphine reduces fear and interferes with the encoding of memories of the traumatic event.
It’s a very interesting study, though it also raises many questions. The original study is by Troy Lisa Holbrook PhD, et al, ”Morphine use after combat injury in Iraq and posttraumatic stress disorder,” New England Journal of Medicine, Jan 14, 2010.
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2 responses so far ↓
Patrice // Apr 9, 2010 at 4:11 am
You’re right – morphine is given to patients who cannot endure so much pain. Thanks for sharing those links. I’ll surely check them out.
Kathleen // Apr 16, 2010 at 6:16 pm
I take issue with the comment above-”patients who cannot endure..pain.” The fact is no one should have to endure pain on the battlefield or anywhere else.
Deployed troops are surviving injuries today that were lethal even a few years ago. Trauma medicine is working miracles; unfortunately, many of these “medical miracles” are returning home with devastating injuries and a life filled with horrific physical and emotional pain.
Morphine works to lessen the severity of PTSD, in my opinion, because pain itself IS trauma. Above and beyond the trauma of the event that caused the injury-i.e. a suicide bomb blast or a pressure sensitive mine detonating underfoot, a person injured in such an event suffers the trauma of helplessness in the face of unrelenting pain when his or her injury goes untreated for any length of time. (BTW an hour is a very long time when you are in excruciating pain-take it from one who knows.)
Giving morphine lessens the totality of the PTSD by circumventing the severity of this one part of the total trauma the person endures.
As someone who has PTSD as a result of medical mishaps of unbelievable proportions, several of which caused me to endure extraordinary fear, helplessness and pain, the concept seems very solid.
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