Trauma Pill Might Help Ease Emotional Pain

FrenchyinOntario writes "Canada's Globe & Mail is reporting that scientists are currently testing a 'trauma pill' that might help the victims of rape, the battlefield and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) forget or perhaps simply never store the memories of what happened to them the way they are stored normally immediately after the traumatic event, when the brain overloads itself with stress hormones. It's theorized that the pills could eventually be handed out to victims of Katrina-like disasters as well as returning war veterans. Critics wonder what kind of an effect it would have on a victim not to work through the pain like people have traditionally done."

Comments

Bah... useless

[lordsilence]

I want my mind-enhancing "remember everything you read" pills for studying.
Exams in a couple of days dammit!

Re:Bah... useless

[PC-PHIX]

I want my mind-enhancing "remember everything you read" pills for studying.

I used to use a product called Exo Memory. Probably the same as this product which I just found online using Google, except I found mine by asking at my local Pharmacy here in Western Australia, so I never had to buy it online. (If you are from Perth, you might like to know that the Pharmacy up the road from U.W.A. in Nedlands is where I first saw this product).

In any case, it seemed to do the trick. I could read a page of information and quote you anything I'd just seen. I was remembering phone numbers after reading them ONCE for days afterwards. People's names, lyrics from songs, locations of files. Cramming took on a whole new meaning during the time I was taking it because of the sheer speed with which I was storing new information and recalling it accurately. It was wonderful stuff!!!

In moderation, I can't see the harm either... I am not responsible if it diagrees with you or vice versa, but I saw no side effects.

There's Evidence That Suggests Forgetting is Good

[putko]

This is the sort of thing that suggetss forgetting is good:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Reliving_tr auma_Pluses_and_minuses.htm

Traditional psychiatry, with its emphasis on remembering every humiliating or traumatizing moment of your life could easily make you miserable.

If you look at treatments for PTSD, you'll see that psychotherapy hasn't been proven to be helpful.

Look at the standard human reaction after a war: don't talk about it. Pretend it didn't happen. Try to get on with life. Otherwise you'll just be a mess, and not get anything done.

Re:It'll Turn 'Em

[1u3hr]

Now we can order the troops to do a My Lai every day and they will have no regrets

Reminiscent of the quite excellent movie Jacob's Ladder.

But I think Lt Calley and his troops were likely suffering from PTSD already. Perhaps such a treatment would make atrocities less likely. In TFA, the army was unenthused by the idea, saying it would "curb survival instincts" (make them less aggressive, I think that means).