Alleviating anxiety and taming trauma: Novel pharmacotherapeutics for anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder
Neuropharmacology January 6, 2023 Nicolas Singewald, Simone B. Sartori, Andreas Reif et al. 57 citations
Anxiety disorders and PTSD are common and increasing worldwide. Current medications help some patients but have side effects and do not address underlying brain changes. After a period of stagnation, there is renewed interest in developing new drug treatments. This review describes currently available drugs and summarizes recent and ongoing clinical trials of novel medicines, grouped by their neurochemical targets: monoamine (including psychedelics), GABA, glutamate, cannabinoid, cholinergic, and neuropeptide systems. The authors emphasize designing treatments based on an understanding of neurobiology and harnessing neuroplasticity to produce lasting beneficial changes, for example by combining psychotropic drugs with psychotherapy. Emerging trends in this new phase of drug development are noted.