Prolonged Exposure for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) With/Without Yohimbine
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-07-07
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The proposed study has three distinct but related research objectives. The first goal is to
measure physiological correlates of successful treatment with Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy
for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Individuals with PTSD often experience elevated heart rates and other objectively measurable
signs of anxiety when confronted with safe situations that remind them of past dangerous
situations. We will measure physiological responses and compare the outcomes to patient's
self reported subjective accounts of symptom improvement on traditional measures of PTSD.
Developing a way to measure objective gains in symptoms improvement may help researchers who
are studying ways to improve PTSD treatment. The second goal of the study is to investigate
if yohimbine, a drug found to promote a specific type of learning, will improve treatment
outcomes for veterans in PTSD treatment. The third goal is to investigate if ability to get
used to loud startling audio tones correlates to baseline PTSD pathology and treatment
outcomes for PE. This goal represents an important step forward in understanding
characteristics of heritable traits that are related PTSD. It is significant because such
research may one day lead to the development of individual responder policies that will
assist patients by individualizing treatment plans based on personal characteristics.