Note: I just saw this article, and it's one alarming and depressing read and super relevant read. Lots of us take these medications and/or have kids, parents, and partners who do as well. Did you know about the increased risk for dementia associated with them? I didn't.
To evaluate possible effects, the investigators turned to a nationwide sample of 417,172 US veterans aged 56 years or older who had not been diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment at baseline in 2003 and for whom data were available for one or more clinical encounters every 2 years in the follow-up period through 2012. The veterans were mostly men and 82% were white.
Among the veterans, 22,674 (5.4%) had a PTSD diagnosis at baseline, and 25,639 (6.15%) were diagnosed with dementia during the follow-up period.
After adjustment for demographic, medical comorbidities, and various psychiatric comorbidities associated with PTSD, patients with PTSD showed a significantly increased risk of being subsequently diagnosed with dementia compared to those who did not have PTSD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.35).
Patients with PTSD who were not treated with psychotropic medications were at increased risk of being diagnosed with dementia compared to those without PTSD (HR, 1.55).
However, dementia risk was significantly higher among veterans with PTSD who were treated with psychotropic medications compared to their counterparts with PTSD but who were not treated with psychotropics. The risk varied according to drug type, with the highest risk being associated with use of atypical antipsychotics: SSRIs, HR = 1.99 (P < .001); novel antidepressants, HR = 1.30 (P = .01); atypical antipsychotics, HR = 2.71 (P < .001).
The investigators also found that patients who were undergoing treatment with benzodiazepines or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) at baseline were at significantly higher risk for dementia whether they had been diagnosed with PTSD or not (HR, 1.36 and 1.34, respectively).
Full article with link to the study.
I hope more studies are done comparing people with PTSD or high ACEs who have and have not been on prescription drugs. The majority of veterans were male and white. It wasn't a diverse sample. But it's the first study I've seen that looks at dementia risk in those with PTSD who have and have not been on these commonly prescribed drugs.
It makes me wonder how many of the health risks associated with a high ACE score are related to the treatments for developmental trauma as well as the developmental trauma itself. It's important to research. One hopeful thing is that there were differences in dementia risk even among those with PTSD. While the risks of dementia were higher for those with PTSD, there were variations. That means there have to be things that decrease as well as increase risks.
That's the only silver lining I see.
But this research is also difficult. It feels like a blow. Parenting with ACEs, with PTSD and in general can be challenging. It's hard in ways that can't always be explained or talked about easily. We don't tend to chat about drug treatment and use even though it's pretty common.
I have never been told about dementia risk when my prescriptions have been refilled. I wonder if others have. Have you?
Like so many, I took medications like these very ones to cope better so that I could be a better parent, a less agitated mother, a more calm person (or at least a less anxious and more focused one). I was not a fan of medications and had resisted taking them for years. But nothing else worked, and I was struggling. These medications helped. A lot. I'm grateful for that.
I made a conscious choice to take and keep taking these medications, and I'd say "Mama can't be crazy" to myself when I'd feel shame getting refills. I didn't have months or years to be distracted by anxiety or to learn more mindful techniques while parenting, paying bills and working. I felt I was taking risks, for myself, to improve my functioning and I was o.k. with that.
But I am not o.k. with how little information was shared about the risks. I'm not o.k. with how few resources are available when people want to go off of medications safely, sanely and without seizures or relapse or agony.
I'm not o.k. with the lack of effective alternatives available and accessible to people.
It makes me sad that the loved ones I wanted to be there for more, especially my daughter, might be burdened later on not by my PTSD symptoms but instead, by the drugs taken to treat it.
I long for better choices, options, and alternatives for all of us.
We need more effective treatments that support people and parents without only pushing or shifting the problems and symptoms faced now for different ones in the future.
Often, I'm encouraged, amazed and inspired by all of the amazing people and work being done in the world these days. There's much less shame and stigma and much more education and awareness about what causes and contributes to suffering.
Today, I feel a bit daunted and discouraged. So many of us, our friends, our family members, neighbors and loved ones turn to prescription drugs, "Vitamin P" as one friend says. I wish there was more time and techniques that treat causes and not only presenting issues and symptoms that show u in the present. It seems there is not enough time and too few places where the impact of ACEs can be understood, healed and prevented for the next generation.
There is too little time for healing, connecting and solace. And there is no time at all to consider the future health and emotional issues, in general and in particular for those with ACEs.
This is why all aspects of ACEs science matter so much. There's lots of work to be done.
It's a new morning and a new day.
Back to parenting, prevention, and self-healing communities. Back to approaches that help support all of us. Back to working towards making it so that all children, adults, and families can be healthy, happy and maybe even live a normal life span.
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