TO HELL AND BACK AGAIN. AND AGAIN

摘要

Plenty of medications help people deal with fear, but the most effective one may be a humble antibiotic. Scientists testing a new treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) say the key to faster recovery might be a 50-year-old tuberculosis drug called D-cycloserine, or DCS.rnAs part of a five-year Emory University study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, veterans with PTSD take the drug or a placebo, don a virtual-reality helmet, and re-create their worst nightmares: rumbling down the road to Falluja, feeling the vibration beneath the seat, hearing the rat-a-tat of gunfire just before a bombrnexplodes. A therapist guides them safely through the traumatic memory. The study is double-blind, so neither the researchers nor the patients know what's in the pills, but one group is showing an improvement in symptoms sooner than they normally would.rnHow does it work? DCS affects the amygdala, the brain's emotional center that governs fear. The drug doesn't stamp out bad memories but, rather, lets the patient reshape their reaction to them. "If it gets to the point that they're bored telling it, that's excellent," says lead psychiatrist Barbara Rothbaum.