Paxil is an antidepressant medication that is sometimes used to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Paxil’s generic name is paroxetine. Though Paxil can be an effective anxiety treatment, some people have difficulty with its many side effects.

Paxil has a long list of potential side effects. Some common Paxil side effects include dizziness, loss of appetite, dry mouth, diarrhea, and nausea. Insomnia, blurred vision, difficulty concentrating, anxiety or nervousness, increased urination, sexual side effects, gas, skin tingling or numbness, and weakness are other possible side effects of Paxil.

GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Paxil, was ordered to include birth defects as one of the potential side effects of Paxil in 2005. Paxil is one of the many medications that a woman should not take if she plans to get pregnant or is not using birth control and could become pregnant due to the risk of birth defects.

Paxil is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Paxil and other SSRIs including Prozac and Zoloft work by increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain. It is not surprising that a medication designed to treat one psychiatric illness is effective in treating others. Many psychoactive medications treat more than one mental illness. For example, Seroquel is an anti-psychotic medication, but it is also used to treat anxiety and bipolar disorder.

Though the list of potential Paxil side effects is considerable, many people take Paxil without having bothersome side effects. Others may have so many problems with side effects that they cannot take Paxil. The way the body responds to medication varies from person to person.

People who have trouble with the side effects of Paxil should discuss the problem with their doctors. Sometimes, the doctor only needs to adjust the dosage to alleviate the side effects. Paxil side effects may also decrease after the person has been taking the medication for a longer period of time. If the side effects of Paxil continue to be bothersome, the doctor may discuss other treatment options for posttraumatic stress disorder. Unfortunately, finding the right treatment for any mental illness may take time. Identifying the right medication can often involve trying several medications before finding the best medication for the individual.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is caused by the inability to integrate a traumatic experience normally. Experiences are encoded in the person’s memory. With PTSD, experts believe that the trauma remains emotionally charged due to the intensity of the traumatic experience.

Though PTSD is commonly associated with trauma experienced during combat, any trauma that the person perceives as life-threatening or causes severe emotional distress can cause PTSD. In some cases, witnessing a horrific event is enough to cause PTSD.

In addition to combat situations, common causes of PTSD include severe car crashes, rape, sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, and other types of interpersonal violence. The similarities among the PTSD causes are typically seen as threatening to the person’s sense of safety.

Other possible causes of PTSD include receiving a diagnosis of a terminal illness, experiencing natural disasters, and witnessing violent attacks on others. Witnessing violence such as a child witnessing domestic violence or witnessing terrorist attacks can be just as psychologically devastating as experiencing the trauma directly.

Some people are more prone to developing PTSD. Experts have identified certain risk factors that make someone susceptible to PTSD. PTSD is a complex problem. What one person experiences as a trauma without developing PTSD could trigger PTSD in someone else. Risk factors for PTSD include the having a learning disability or psychiatric illnesses prior to the trauma, the severity and duration of the trauma, and repeated traumatic events.

For people who do not have PTSD, this disorder can be difficult to understand. PTSD causes the person to relive the traumatic event in flashbacks or nightmares. Someone with PTSD often has a heightened vigilance and anxiety. Since many people with PTSD tend to avoid talking about the trauma, friends and family may have limited knowledge of the actual event that triggered the PTSD.

There are effective treatments for PTSD. The road to recovery can be slow progress which can be extremely frustrating. The person may feel that they are finally getting symptoms under control and then experience a flashback or nightmare that robs them of their sense of progress. The person should try to remember that the occurrence of a symptom does not erase the progress that has been made.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder which is characterized by nightmares, flashbacks, and hyper-vigilance caused by a traumatic event. People may develop PTSD if they experience or witness violence or a life-threatening situation. PTSD treatment often includes specialized therapy for PTSD.

A person who has PTSD often has elevated anxiety and intrusive, vivid, and emotionally traumatic nightmares or flashbacks during which the person reliving the trauma. One perspective of PTSD and the reliving of the traumatic memory is that the traumatic memory fails to be integrated properly into the person’s memory. Therefore, this emotionally-charged memory remains in the forefront of the person’s mind and is easily triggered. Due to the lack of integration, the memory also retains the intense emotions and feeling as if the event is recurring that integrated memories normally lack.

One common therapeutic approach to PTSD treatment is exposure therapy similar to how phobias are treated. In both cases, the person is exposed to the trauma or fear-triggering stimulus in a safe environment with the support of a therapist. With PTSD, the person may be asked to describe the traumatic event in detail.

The therapist may have the person progress gradually through this treatment. The individual may describe only the beginning of the event or a less-detailed account at first. In subsequent treatments, the person may be asked to describe more of the event. The location of the trauma may be visited at some point.
A relatively new therapy for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) which is founded on the principle that the traumatic memories have not been successfully integrated. The goal of EMDR is to assist the person in reprocessing the memory so that it causes less emotional distress.

During the EMDR treatment process, the therapist guides the client through identifying and replacing negative thoughts and beliefs that are associated with the trauma. The therapist uses clicks, tones, or the client’s eye movement to encourage the reprocessing of the traumatic memory.

Family therapy is often recommended as part of PTSD therapy. The family is impacted by the condition and rarely has sufficient insight into the condition. PTSD is not easily understood by those who experience the condition much less those who don’t have the condition but have a relationship with someone who does. Family therapy can provide education about the disorder. The emotions of all family members are discussed. The therapist may help the family communicate effectively, resolve conflicts, and cope with their emotions.

Some therapeutic techniques for PTSD are related to the type of trauma experienced. For example, someone who developed PTSD from a sexual assault or rape may receive therapy from a sexual assault counselor who helps clients recover from sexual trauma.

PTSD treatment can include different types of therapy and medication. There is no set duration of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment. Treatment for PTSD can take months or years. The first part of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder often includes educating the person about what PTSD is and an explanation of the common symptoms.

Individual cognitive therapy and family therapy can be the foundation of PTSD treatment. The individual with PTSD needs therapeutic support when coping with the symptoms. The role of the therapist may be to teach the person ways to cope with flashbacks, nightmares, and other symptoms. The person often needs to learn how to cope with the symptoms before therapy can even begin to address the traumatic cause of the PTSD.

Exposure therapy is a therapeutic approach to the traumatic cause of PTSD. Gradually, the individual is to recount the memories that the person has of the traumatic event. It is not uncommon for the person to have blanks in the memory of the trauma. The therapist may gently push the person to remember and tell more of the events of the trauma in each desensitization session. In some cases, the location of the trauma may be revisited.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a type of therapy that looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected. The therapist may assist the individual in challenging negative thoughts that stem from the trauma or were reinforced by the trauma. The individual’s interpretations of the traumatic event may be explored.

Eye movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) addresses the cause of PTSD more effectively than many other therapeutic approaches. It is believed that for people with PTSD, the memory of the trauma becomes stuck in intense, fractured segments. An example of how this shows in people with PTSD is the emotionally-charged flashbacks which are stuck memories of portions of the event while the person with PTSD may be unable to recall other parts of the trauma. EMDR uses clicking or repetitive eye movement while the person is retelling the traumatic event. The goal of EMDR therapy is to unfreeze the stuck memories and help the individual integrate the memory of the trauma as a whole with less emotional intensity attached to it.

Group therapy and support groups are often helpful for people with PTSD. An individual with PTSD may feel alone or isolated. They may feel that no one understands the trauma and how it has affected them. By meeting with a group of people with similar trauma or PTSD, the person gets a sense that there are people who understand what they are going through. It can also be helpful when members of the group share things that have been helpful for them.

Family therapy is often used as part of the treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. The family as a whole often suffers the effects of PTSD due to the individual’s symptoms. Family therapy is also helpful to show the person with PTSD that they have support and to educate the family about PTSD and its effects.

Medication may be used to treat anxiety, depression, and sleep problems caused by the PTSD. Antidepressants that are in the SSRI category like Paxil or Zoloft are most commonly used to treat PTSD.

There has been more and more hype about a fictional category of PTSD called “complex PTSD.” “Complex” PTSD supposedly differs from regular (simple?) PTSD in its causes and symptoms. Complex PTSD is not an official diagnosis recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. In my opinion, it should not be.

Complex PTSD is described as PTSD occurring from recurrent or ritualized abuse. For a “diagnosis” of complex PTSD, the person has to have been under the control of another person for a significant amount of time. Up until this point, and still officially, PTSD has been considered to be caused by any trauma, whether the trauma was a single event or recurrent.

Complex PTSD symptoms include alterations in emotional regulation, alterations in consciousness such as forgetting part of the trauma and flashbacks, changes in self-esteem and the person’s self-concept, altering perception of the perpetrator, changes in personal relationships, and a sense of hopelessness or despair or a loss of faith. Any of that sound familiar? If not, you probably do not have PTSD.

Three more possible symptoms of complex PTSD include self-harm, numbing behavior such as drinking, and avoiding discussing the trauma. I’m still waiting to see how complex PTSD is different from PTSD in general…

Is anyone else with PTSD outraged about this? I experience every single one of those complex PTSD symptoms, but because I was not under someone’s control for a consistent, prolonged period of time, my PTSD is not as severe or complicated as complex PTSD? Are they saying that I and anyone else who has all of these symptoms but was not in a concentration camp or a victim of child sexual abuse have SIMPLE PTSD?

As anyone who has PTSD can attest to, there is no SIMPLE PTSD. All PTSD is complex in and of itself.
So, what would be the purpose of having a separate diagnosis of complex PTSD? Will it lead to better treatment? If so, why and how? How many categories of PTSD do we need? I could make the same claims for PTSD from rape or sexual assault. There have been claims associated that the victim of complex PTSD is often viewed as having a character weakness. How is that different from a rape victim being blamed for the rape?

Some people may feel that there needs to be a separate category for combat PTSD. If we are going to start separating PTSD, why not include categories for domestic violence PTSD, child abuse PTSD, media-induced PTSD, natural disaster PTSD, etc? My question is why? How will it help develop better treatment when people with PTSD who would not be considered as having complex PTSD can have the exact same symptoms? I can see this separation as being more divisive among people with PTSD than helpful. There should NOT be a separation of this already complex disorder. Professionals should be focused on finding treatments to benefit ALL people with PTSD, not a fictitious, arbitrary division of it!

This book, Down Range: To Iraq and Back, is a book that had thirty copies donated by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for military families of one Family Readiness group. The book helps people recognize the symptoms of PTSD.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder does seem to be getting increasing attention by the military. Some soldiers who are returning from deployment participated in an extreme sports program to help combat PTSD. The purpose of this program, called Warrior Adventure Quest, is to see if extreme sports will alleviate anxiety, provide safe outlets for those who crave adrenaline-laced activities after being exposed to combat, and to reduce PTSD symptoms. Participants engage in extreme sports activities like skydiving and whitewater rafting.

A virtual reality video game is being used to help PTSD veterans cope with fear and anxiety from traumatic combat experiences. The virtual Iraq encourages the veterans to face the emories of their trauma, which is considered essential for recovery from PTSD.

Returning from th War Zone: A Guide for Families is an interactive guide by the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder which is a US Department of Veterans Affairs. It includes a lot of information for families about recognizing the symptoms of PTSD and how to get help for any veteran showing signs or symptoms of PTSD.