Yankee soldier wanna shoot some skag
Jan. 14th, 2010 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randy_byersMorphine May Help Traumatic Stress
Doctors have long hoped to discover a "morning-after pill" to blunt the often disabling emotional fallout from traumatic experiences. It appears they have had one on hand all along: morphine.
In a large study of combat casualties in Iraq, Navy researchers reported Wednesday that prompt treatment with morphine cut in half the chances that troops would develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Other opiates are likely to have similar effects, experts said.
This story reminds me of a theory I once had that the human pain system is actually poorly constructed in the way that the pain signal itself can become part of the problem. It's good to have a system that tells you that you've suffered damage, but if the damage is extensive, sometimes it would help if the pain signal would shut up for a bit. However, this study indicates that more than reducing pain, opiates also reduce the fear associated with the pain (which is a big part of PTSD) and they also dim or blur the memories of the traumatic event. The latter is obviously more difficult when the trauma has occurred repeatedly over a long period of time, as in the case of child abuse.
I'm also reminded that the people I've known personally who were addicted to heroin have been people who suffered PTSD, generally from having been abused as children.
Doctors have long hoped to discover a "morning-after pill" to blunt the often disabling emotional fallout from traumatic experiences. It appears they have had one on hand all along: morphine.
In a large study of combat casualties in Iraq, Navy researchers reported Wednesday that prompt treatment with morphine cut in half the chances that troops would develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Other opiates are likely to have similar effects, experts said.
This story reminds me of a theory I once had that the human pain system is actually poorly constructed in the way that the pain signal itself can become part of the problem. It's good to have a system that tells you that you've suffered damage, but if the damage is extensive, sometimes it would help if the pain signal would shut up for a bit. However, this study indicates that more than reducing pain, opiates also reduce the fear associated with the pain (which is a big part of PTSD) and they also dim or blur the memories of the traumatic event. The latter is obviously more difficult when the trauma has occurred repeatedly over a long period of time, as in the case of child abuse.
I'm also reminded that the people I've known personally who were addicted to heroin have been people who suffered PTSD, generally from having been abused as children.
