There is an old drug that has fairly recently been shown to prevent the emotional consequences of memory recall via reconsolidation.
The drug is Propranolol, a beta blocker that prevents adrenergic stimulation. Marketed as Inderal, this medication has long been prescribed to control high blood pressure and anxiety.
Among the fascinating implications, Propranolol administration during the recall of painful memories may speed the habituation(healing) of past traumas, and help abolish chemical addiction.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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Mike,
ReplyDeleteIt's my understanding that if inderal is taken following a trauma, it can prevent the development of PTSD.
Teresa Trower
LMHC
Theresa, absolutely. It's also been given to rape victims by ER docs.
ReplyDeleteWhat is really intresting here is not only can Inderal prevent the development of the negative hedonic consequences of trauma, but also seeminly abolish such consequences during recall of traumatic events. This may obviously speed up exposure-based treatments, including systematic desensitization.
Also interesting, the drug can seem to abolish positive hedonic responses, which I just never considered for whatever reason.
Maybe it will also be interesting to explore the ethical dimensions to the problem, as maybe people will be more likely to do things that would ordinarily result in fear or regret, even when such feelings are warranted. Could one decide to fall out of love with a mate?
So let's just say, in the past (maybe 7 years ago), something traumatic happened in my life which has caused me severe guilt. I never sought therapy, although it was recommended. My entire life changed after this happened and I quit my incredible job, relocated and felt literally lost for years. I may have self medicated somewhat with partying and drinking too.
ReplyDeleteI am in a better place now but I can't help but think....how would this help me, or is it too late since it was so long ago?
Anon,
ReplyDeleteThe implication is that you could have the traumatic memories stimulated after taking a dose of Inderal, and the next time elements of the same memory come up, they will have lost more of their emotional salience than they would otherwise. It should greatly speed the process of healing, assuming these results hold up.
I was wondering if QUANTIMIND had similar 'choice theory' tenets as RCTN, The Rational-CHoice Theory of Neurosis. You can read about it here:Journal of Psychotherapy Integration © 2010 American Psychological Association 2010, Vol. 20, No. 2, 152–202, by Dr. Rofe and also a review article Review of General Psychology Copyright 2008 by the American Psychological Association 2008, Vol. 12, No. 1, 63–85
ReplyDeletejay-pi,
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of the theory and I'm not immediately finding references for it. Do you mind providing some?
these are the only ones i have, but there is a book, too. published by Kluwer "The Rationality of Irrationality". these are 2 article: Journal of Psychotherapy Integration © 2010 American Psychological Association 2010, Vol. 20, No. 2, 152–202, by Dr. Rofe and also a review article Review of General Psychology Copyright 2008 by the American Psychological Association 2008, Vol. 12, No. 1, 63–85
ReplyDeletejay-pi again: the book is called The Rationality of Psychological Disorders, Kluwer, 2000. by Dr. Yacov Rofe... the most central idea is that patients consciously choose to distract themselves from present stressors by adopting increasingly 'effective' distraction-type coping mechanisms to ward off the stress, anxiety etc... RCTN makes a distinction between 'normal' distraction: reading, movies, friends and 'pathological' distraction, such as choosing neurotic symptoms. First they choose and then maintain a self-deceptive belief concerning their own involvement in the choice-making process. There are more aspects to RCTN, but i think this might be one which fits into your interest in choice theory... can you relate to this approach? it is the reverse of ttraditional therapy where the etiology sets up the repressed trauma as the cause of the symptoms, RCTN demonstrates how the symptoms are chosen to ward off the stressful thoughts (e.g. about the traumatic experience); therefore the symptoms are considered as a type of coping mechanism. i'd really be interested in getting into a discussion with you (time-permitting, of course) Thanks again!
ReplyDeletejay-pi again: the book is called The Rationality of Psychological Disorders, Kluwer, 2000. by Dr. Yacov Rofe... the most central idea is that patients consciously choose to distract themselves from present stressors by adopting increasingly 'effective' distraction-type coping mechanisms to ward off the stress, anxiety etc... RCTN makes a distinction between 'normal' distraction: reading, movies, friends and 'pathological' distraction, such as choosing neurotic symptoms. First they choose and then maintain a self-deceptive belief concerning their own involvement in the choice-making process. There are more aspects to RCTN, but i think this might be one which fits into your interest in choice theory... can you relate to this approach? it is the reverse of ttraditional therapy where the etiology sets up the repressed trauma as the cause of the symptoms, RCTN demonstrates how the symptoms are chosen to ward off the stressful thoughts (e.g. about the traumatic experience); therefore the symptoms are considered as a type of coping mechanism. i'd really be interested in getting into a discussion with you (time-permitting, of course) Thanks again!
ReplyDeletejay-pi,
ReplyDeleteGiven the length of my reading list and the cost of the book, which well exceeds $200, I'll have to pass on buying it.
I found no published papers from the author on pubmed, but I did read the Amazon book preview and was not impressed.
The forward by Kaplan mentions the author even argues that psychoses may be the manifestation of once deliberate strategies to distract from severely painful events, yet the evidence that psychoses are purely due to neurological factors is extremely strong. It is hard to imagine the author could be right, but nothing's impossible.
Examples of psychotic disorders are schizophrenia, or any others in which there are halucinations and/or fixed, certifiable delusions, according to DSM IV.
Halucinations, for example, involve a lack of synchrony between sensory inputs and processing nodes. If you can find evidence that people can voluntarily cause such symptoms, in lieu of extreme sleep, sensory, or dietary deprivation, I'd like to see it.
With regard to neuroses, I don't see how his perspective is needed at all. I won't be surprised to find that people sometimes use metacognitive strategies to avoid experiencing inner trauma, but I see adaptive behavioral economics as being the framework that addresses these questions best.
For example, there are particular shifts of behavior that result from declines in resource intake(mood), that lead to impulsivity, patterns of risk aversion and seeking, and seemingly irrational social interactions(including promiscuity), and are directly predicted by the relevant equations.
I invite you to read the following posts:
http://quantimind.blogspot.com/2010/02/mood-this-time-with-feeling-simpler.html
http://quantimind.blogspot.com/2009/06/mood-simply-represents-sum-of-perceived.html
I appreciate your comments.
Hey, too bad you stopped blogging, I just came across your blog and enjoyed the posts. Thank you, wherever you are now!
ReplyDelete