The Los Angeles Times (11/19, Zarembo) reported, “Stimulant medications used to treat” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “and keep service members alert during long stretches of combat might increase vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD],” according to a study published online Nov. 4 in the Journal of Traumatic Stress. Researchers arrived at the study’s conclusions after tracking “25,971 active-duty troops who screened negative for PTSD…from 2001 to 2008.” After controlling for confounding factors, investigators found that service members “with prescriptions for the stimulants were five times more likely to have PTSD.”
Related Links:
— “Pentagon study links prescription stimulants to military PTSD risk,” Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2015.