Novel Pharmacologic and Other Somatic Treatment Approaches for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults: State of the Evidence.
The American journal of psychiatry – December 01, 2024
Source: PubMed
Summary
While traditional treatments help many PTSD patients, groundbreaking research reveals promising new approaches. Combining pharmacotherapy with cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy shows enhanced outcomes. Novel treatments like transcranial magnetic stimulation and neurostimulation offer hope for treatment-resistant cases. Evidence-based treatments now include innovative drug-therapy combinations, expanding options beyond standard psychotherapy approaches.
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder that can become chronic and debilitating when left untreated. The most commonly recommended first-line treatments for PTSD among adults are individual trauma-focused psychotherapies. Other evidence-based treatments include specific antidepressant medications and non-trauma-focused psychotherapies. Despite the effectiveness of these available treatments, many patients' symptoms do not remit. This has led to the search for novel treatments for PTSD. In this review, the authors critically evaluate the data supporting several emerging pharmacological and other somatic interventions in the categories of medication-assisted psychotherapy, novel medication monotherapy strategies, and neuromodulation, selected because of the salience of their mechanisms of action to the pathophysiology of PTSD (e.g., MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, ketamine, cannabidiol, transcranial magnetic stimulation). The authors also evaluate the evidence for treatments that are the focus of increasing scientific or public interest (i.e., hyperbaric oxygen therapy, stellate ganglion block, neurofeedback). To date, the evidence supporting most novel pharmacological and somatic treatments for PTSD is preliminary and highly variable; however, the data for several specific treatments, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, are encouraging.