Talk about it: Early on, grief counseling can be helpful. Cognitive psychotherapy in which a trained mental health professional helps the traumatized person talk through the distressing event is also supportive. Dealing with the thoughts and emotions with a counselor is important.
Exposure therapy is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. In this therapy, you are gradually helped to process your memories or cues associated with your traumatic experience. In other words, the therapist helps you "get back on the horse" and helps you deal with the memories—a process you may not be able to do yourself, even though you relive the memories yourself.
Medication: Two medications, sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil), have been approved for the treatment of post-traumatic stress. They work much like Prozac and similar antidepressants in helping to overcome the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
With medication or counseling and usually both, the movie inside a person’s head stops playing and fades with time. Symptoms may get better without treatment too.| Printer-Friendly Format | | | Email to a Friend |
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Cymbalta is approved for the treatment of depression.
Important Safety Information
Cymbalta® (duloxetine HCl) is approved for the treatment of depression and generalized anxiety disorder, and for the management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia.
Patients on antidepressants and their families or caregivers should watch for new or worsening depression symptoms, unusual changes in behavior, thoughts of suicide, anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, difficulty sleeping, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, restlessness, or extreme hyperactivity. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have thoughts of suicide or if any of these symptoms are severe or occur suddenly. Be especially observant within the first few months of antidepressant treatment or whenever there is a change in dose.
You should not take Cymbalta if:
Before starting Cymbalta, tell your healthcare provider:
While taking Cymbalta, tell your healthcare provider:
If you have any questions, talk to your healthcare provider before taking Cymbalta.
The most common side effect of Cymbalta was nausea. For most people who had it, the nausea was mild to moderate. Other common side effects included dry mouth, sleepiness, constipation, decreased appetite, and, increased sweating. This is not a complete list of side effects.
The formal diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was not introduced into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until its third publication in 1980.
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