Naloxone-Reversible Analgesic Response to Combat-Related Stimuli in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that exposure to a stimulus resembling the original traumatic event would induce naloxone-reversible analgesia in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eight medication-free Vietnam veterans with PTSD and eight veterans without PTSD, matched for age and combat severity, viewed a 15-minute videotape of dramatized combat under naloxone hydrochloride and placebo conditions in a randomized double-blind crossover design. In the placebo condition, the subjects with PTSD showed a 30% decrease in reported pain intensity ratings of standardized heat stimuli after the combat videotape. No decrease in pain ratings occurred in the subjects with PTSD in the naloxone condition. The subjects without PTSD did not show a decrease in pain ratings in either condition. The results are consistent with the induction of opioid-mediated stress-induced analgesia in the patients with PTSD.
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Exposure to trauma-related stimuli induces a naloxone-reversible increase in pain threshold among individuals with PTSD.
“Moreover, exposure to trauma-related stimuli induces a naloxone (opioid antagonist) reversible increase in pain threshold among individuals with PTSD (Pitman et al., 1990).”
From A review of the relation between dissociation, memory, executive functioning and social cognition in military members and civilians with neuropsychiatric conditions (2016) · cites this paper as Pitman et al., 1990
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- Authors
- Pitman, R. K.
- Affiliations
- Veterans Health Administration (US)
- Corresponding author
- Pitman, Roger K.
- ORCID
- Pitman, Roger K.
- Venue
- Archives of General Psychiatry
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 1990-06-01
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 541
- ISSN
- 0003-990X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2054228615
- Cited by
- 296
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 19.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Archives of General Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, naloxone, stress-induced analgesia, opioid analgesia, Vietnam War veterans, pain perception, thermal pain, combat exposure
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analgesia, Combat Disorders, Double-Blind Method, Endorphins, Galvanic Skin Response, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Naloxone, Pain Measurement, Pilot Projects, Placebos, Random Allocation, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Stress, Psychological, Videotape Recording
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