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What Is The Treatment For PTSD?

What Is The Treatment For PTSD?

Living with PTSD can be extremely challenging, but fortunately, there are lots of ways to find relief from your symptoms. These symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and uncontrollable anxiety.

If these feelings of stress and anxiety after seeing something traumatic don’t fade with time, you may be suffering from PTSD. To learn more about the different treatment options for the symptoms of PTSD, continue reading.

What is the treatment for PTSD?

PTSD treatment seeks to give you back your sense of control over your symptoms so you can regain a sense of normalcy in your life. Treatments range from old standards like psychotherapy and medication to innovative new options like ketamine infusions.

Ketamine Infusions

Ketamine first rose to real prominence as a powerful anesthetic and rapid pain reliever but is now being used as an innovative new treatment for mood disorders and mental health conditions like PTSD.

According to PsychiatryAdvisor, “a growing body of evidence points to the role of glutamate, a widely distributed excitatory neurotransmitter, in mediating the response to stress and the formation of traumatic memories. Ketamine is an ionotropic glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, antagonist. It’s antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects are presumed to occur through activating synaptic plasticity by increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor translation and secretion and also by inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase-3 and activating mammalian target of rapamycin signaling.”

Psychotherapy

You may know psychotherapy better by the name talk therapy. It is a powerful method of treatment used to treat cases of PTSD in people of any age group or demographic. Types of psychotherapy include cognitive therapy, exposure therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

Medications

Some treatments like antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications may bring relief from the symptoms of PTSD, but they may take months to go into effect and can have some unwanted side effects.

What are the symptoms of PTSD?

PTSD symptoms can appear anywhere from within a month after the traumatic event, to even years down the line. These symptoms will greatly interfere with your normal tasks and you may find it difficult to maintain relationships with the people you are close to.

The symptoms of PTSD can be grouped into four subtypes: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions.

Intrusive Memories

  • Distressing and intrusive memories of the original traumatic event
  • Flashbacks to the event, as if you are reliving it
  • Nightmares about the event
  • Emotional or physical reactions to things that remind you of the original event

Avoidance

  • Avoiding talking or even thinking about the original traumatic event
  • Avoiding any people, things, or places that remind you of it

Negative Changes in Thinking and Mood

  • Thinking negatively about yourself or others
  • Hopelessness about the future or the world
  • Trouble remembering aspects of the traumatic event
  • Trouble maintaining your close relationships
  • Social isolation
  • Loss of interest in hobbies and things you enjoy
  • A feeling of emotional numbness

Changes in Physical and Emotional Reactions

  • Always being on guard or watch
  • Subsequently, being startled or frightened easily
  • Substance abuse
  • Self-destructive behavior
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Not getting enough sleep

Contact us today to learn more about our innovative new treatment options for PTSD in Scottsdale, AZ.

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James T. Leathem, DO

Dr. James Leathem is a board-certified anesthesiologist and a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He was born and raised in Connecticut and graduated from Florida Southern College with a bachelor of science in marketing management with minors in sociology and communications. He obtained his medical degree from Midwestern University’s Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency in anesthesiology at Michigan State University and its affiliated McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital.

In 2015, after residency, Dr. Leathem returned to Arizona to practice anesthesiology. He joined Red Mountain Anesthesiologists and worked primarily at Banner Baywood Medical Center in Mesa, performing 100% of his own cases. He was made partner in the group after demonstrating 3 years of anesthesia excellence and administering over 4,000 anesthetics. In 2019, a corporate change occurred and an opportunity presented itself in which he was able to transition out of the hospital to surgery center and clinic-based anesthesia.

Dr. Leathem realizes that the only constant in life is change. In 2020, amidst the global pandemic, his career took a different direction. This change led him to collaborate with Dr. Wong and Dr. Sharma and they founded Advanced Wellness and Pain (AWAP). Their mission is to provide a variety of state-of-the-art procedural services that improve patients’ quality of life and overall physical and mental well-being.

Dr. Leathem believes that we are all a work in progress and that each day, one should strive to make positive changes in their life. He is here to help empower each patient on their journey to be their best self and live their best life. When you are being cared for by Dr. Leathem, you can be assured that he will give you his undivided attention and time.

Gregory Wong, MD

Dr. Wong is a Board-Certified Anesthesiologist and a member of both the American Society of Anesthesiology and the Arizona Society of Anesthesiology. He did his undergraduate training at the University of California at Davis, Davis, California; doctorate training at The University of Health Sciences of the Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL; and his post-doctoral training at the Integrated Program at the University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ. He has spent his whole 24-year career practicing in Arizona.

Dr. Wong grew up in the Bay Area of California. He is married and is raising three daughters. At the early age of 12 years old, he knew he wanted to become a physician. His love of the human spirit, intrigue of human physiology, and compassion for human suffering led him to the path of anesthesiology and pain medicine.

Today, Dr. Wong realizes patients need a holistic biophysical-mental-spiritual care. This philosophy has brought him to the studies of regenerative medicine and infusion therapies. He has firsthandily witnessed the overwhelming success of these therapies for treating chronic pain and depression and the return of patients of “life-functionality.”

“There has never been a time more important than now to advocate for our patients in these difficult times. We owe it to our patients to offer these state-of-the-art treatment modalities that weren’t available before.”

Deepak Sharma, MD, MBA

Dr. Sharma is a Board Certified Anesthesiologist and a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He completed three degrees at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA: a Bachelor in Finance, a Master in Business Administration, and a Doctor of Medicine. He went on to complete residency at the Mount Sinai Morningside-West Hospital System in New York, NY and post-graduate fellowship at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA.

Dr. Sharma is committed to treating his patients as a whole with a comprehensive biophysical-mental-spiritual approach. He is a lifelong learner and is constantly researching cutting-edge therapies backed by scientific studies. He has taken a particular interest in regenerative and infusion therapies after witnessing firsthand their significant benefits on those suffering from chronic pain and depression. In his free time, Dr. Sharma enjoys spending time with his family and friends, hiking, traveling, reading, and meditation.

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