Vagus Nerve Stimulation Erases PTSD: Study

I don’t think there is clinical level evidence for it, but there’s this thing called Trauma Releasing Exercise which apparently some people swear by. The idea is that you do extremely taxing, high neuromuscular-recruitment static holds etc - til the point of total muscle control loss that turns into widespread trembling. I would speculate that if a big part of feeling bad is getting stuck in a state where tension becomes a problematic passive default state that is hard to get out of, that a short, hard ‘nudge’ in the form of overwhelming exertion might be enough to ‘reset’. All speculation until proven though.<p>What’s interesting about the origins of the technique is that the guy thought of the possibility that adults learn to suppress visible trauma reactions - uncontrolled shaking, etc - whereas children and animals wouldn’t, and for whatever reason they would also be able to return to normal more quickly. He wondered if maybe that there was a tangible benefit to the shaking itself, in that it could help perturb out of the traumatized state itself.

Not surprised, but the headline is pretty terrible. This is a very small, early stage experiment with promising results. The declarative statement-of-fact in the headline is just irresponsible clickbait. That said, the results are promising.

Link to the actual abstract on PubMed: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;40097094&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;40097094&#x2F;</a>

Not surprising, it&#x27;s been conjectured for a long time that suppressing the physiological response would improve the effectiveness of PTSD therapy<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;books&#x2F;NBK562942&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;books&#x2F;NBK562942&#x2F;</a>

I’m curious about those neck brace style “vagus nerve stimulators” you see on the internet. Anyone have experience with them? Are they legit or snake oil?

Any hope to treat tinnitus? :-\

My friend’s startup is doing great stuff in this space to make a VNS device for consumers. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;zenbud.health&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;zenbud.health&#x2F;</a>

EMDR by someone well-trained and experienced in doing that specifically for PTSD is something I’m more familiar with as a treatment. I think the trick with these treatments is that you need a good therapist with past experience helping people get through it. PTSD is not something you want to mess with if you don’t know what you’re doing as triggering could be dangerous.

n=9 here folks. I think the certainty in the headline is borderline irresponsible.

Why not use EMDR instead?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Eye_movement_desensitization_a...</a>

Anyone done VNS at home?

Just 9 patients. :-(

Verbatim the theme of a few episodes of the medical drama &quot;The Resident&quot;.

I don&#x27;t know how I feel about this. The nature of PTSD is that you have a true memory, that the event happened. Imagine if I tell you, 9&#x2F;11 was real and it happened, but from now you will never feel any feeling about it. What exactly did we accomplish here? The bombings in Gaza are real, but from now on, you will feel nothing about it. You see? It reads like a dystopia.<p>There&#x27;s an obsession with erasing the past and not digesting it. The subconscious wants reconciliation, and it will emerge over and over, that&#x27;s what PTSD is. Lobotomizing someone is certainly <i>one way</i> of reconciling it. The only way out is through imho, that you are forever changed and saw the face of mankind, and your subconscious will not accept any cheap reconciliation for the most part.<p>&quot;Just zap it&quot;, I sense the subconscious will not let you get away with that. You are custodian of the trauma.