Background Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains a challenging condition to treat. Nonpsychedelic pharmacotherapies have modest efficacy, and trauma-focused therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) demonstrate higher response rates than medications, yet they suffer from high dropout rates (25–35%) and limited...
Trauma-related autobiographical memories can manifest as involuntary, vivid, emotionally charged intrusions that perpetuate avoidance, negative emotions, and functional impairment. While these memories are central to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they also occur across diagnoses and are often reported in depressive disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Although...
Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe and frequent affection that is highly comorbid to major depressive disorder. Comorbid PTSD and depression increase the risk of treatment-resistant depression (TRD), with a high risk of functional impairment and suicide. Esketamine nasal spray is a recent validated treatment for TRD, but its efficacy on comorbid TRD-PTSD remains...
Medicine AdvancesMarch 27, 2026Thomas Edward Cutting, Richard Evans Hartman
ABSTRACT Numerous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of (R, S)‐ketamine as a treatment for post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment‐resistant depression, and comorbid occurrences of these conditions. The (R) and (S) stereoisomers of ketamine have also demonstrated efficacy in attenuating stress and depressive symptoms, with (R)‐ketamine demonstrating reduced abuse potential and side...
Ketamine holds promise for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but challenges remain in delivery and sustained effects. This controlled study evaluates a novel intranasal formulation, employing AmyloLipid nanovesicles (ALN) to enhance ketamine’s therapeutic efficacy in a predator-scent stress (PSS) rat model of PTSD. A total of 130 rats underwent PSS or sham-PSS exposure,...
Dissociation, an altered state of consciousness in which individuals feel detached from their body, environment, and sense of self, is a common feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite its significance, the neurocognitive processes underlying dissociation remain poorly understood, potentially limiting diagnostic precision and treatment efficacy in PTSD. To address this gap, we...
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) often co-occur, worsening outcomes, relapse rates, and treatment response. Ketamine produces rapid and sustained PTSD symptom reduction and reduces AUD relapse. Prazosin effectively treats PTSD-related nightmares and may reduce alcohol consumption in individuals with heightened autonomic reactivity. The dual complementary...
Abstract Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental health condition affecting approximately 3-6% of the U.S. adult population annually, and is characterized by intrusive symptoms, avoidance, negative cognitive and mood alterations, and hyperarousal following trauma exposure. Ketamine shows promise as a treatment for PTSD in preliminary trials, though real-world...
Firefighters are exposed to a disproportionately high number of traumatic incidents and, thus, display elevated rates of trauma-related mental health disorders, with the reported average PTSD prevalence being 7.3% in firefighters vs 1.3-3.5% in the general populationOftentimes, conventional treatments demonstrate limited efficacy. Ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) has recently arisen with...
Ketamine, a nonselective NMDA-receptor antagonist, is an emerging therapeutic for treatment-resistant depression and could also be a promising treatment for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders. However, preclinical studies in these areas lack methodological standardization, limiting clinical translatability. This review evaluates ketamine's anxiolytic potential in rodents by examining...