Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, while working to understand post-traumatic stress disorder, discovered that the drug, propanolol, appeared to eliminate the physical symptoms associated with recalling traumatic events.
Encouraged by his findings, Pitman undertook a much larger trial. But the study created controversy. The President’s Council on Bioethics condemned the work as unethical, saying tinkering with memories [i][b]risks undermining a person’s identity[/b].[/i]
Pitman had an interesting counter-argument, but curious what others think of the controversy?
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Location: Morgan, UT
Join Date: Jun 29, 2009
Every experience in our lives molds who we are as individuals...even traumatic ones...as bad as some memories or events may be...I would not trade them...they have made me who I am...and I kinda like me...kisses...Naugh-Ty
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Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Join Date: Jan 14, 2008
thanks for the topic, interesting stuff,
I dunno if I would call it much of a controversy,
just read the report from the council. the report itself only raises potential ethical questions but does not "condemn" the use. however, Leon Kass (chairman of the council) stated his personal objection (to the Harvard Gazette) to their use on grounds that it medicates away ones conscience, Kass said "It's the morning-after pill for just about anything that produces regret, remorse, pain, or guilt."
also of note the title of the post is misleading, the treatment does not erase memories at all, it only mediates the PHYSICAL effects of them, like the nightmares, cold sweats, extreme fear and anxiety. a good example would be a rape victim that has a panic attack when attempting to have sex with her husband, the treatment does not erase the rape or her memory of it, just the physical effects of it.
also of note the medication must be administered within hours of the traumatic event to be effective
my opinions on the subject after reading some personal accounts of veterans suffering with PTSD, and a look at the suicide statistics among them, it seems cruel not to try it. the treatment seems to be the difference between remembering an event and reliving it every night in horrific nightmares.
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Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Join Date: Jul 21, 2007
This is a very critical subject. There are millions of people in our society that have PTSD as its based on traumatic accurances. Being that most americans live within their walls, most dont know if others have it. The side effects are somewhat the same based on levels of traumatic event/events. The thing is, there needs to be more attention on better management principles. Once PTSD has started, there are no drugs for it to just go away. Hence the quantities of suicides from returning military. I would think the best annicdote for this would be to recieve as many blow jobs (for males) and long lasting oral (for woman). I do know that the VA has stepped up their involvement with the military and are looking for any and all military that may be suffering from this, and it doesnt matter what war or term it was/is.
