When Is Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome Really PTSD?

"Almost all Americans are familiar with posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD) and its long-term, sometimes devastating effects on people's lives-crippling anxiety, depression, disturbing flashbacks, sleep problems, irritability, concentration difficulties, and much, much more. About 70 percent of U.S. adults have experienced at least one major life trauma. The fact that so many of us experience trauma makes it easier to empathize with the 10 or so percent of people who go on to develop PTSD."

"PAWS describes a collection of symptoms that occur after people with addiction quit using and enter recovery. PAWS symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems, cravings, cognitive impairment, and irritability, can last for months to years after initial withdrawal from any number of drugs. These include alcohol, benzodiazepines, crack, marijuana, methamphetamine, and opioids. PAWS isn't an official medical diagnosis, yet there's little question it exists. In some cases, physiological causes are well understood."

Posttraumatic stress disorder produces long-term effects including crippling anxiety, depression, disturbing flashbacks, sleep problems, irritability, and concentration difficulties. About 70 percent of U.S. adults experience at least one major life trauma and roughly 10 percent develop PTSD, which reduces stigma compared with less common disorders. Post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) encompasses persistent symptoms after substance cessation, such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems, cravings, cognitive impairment, and irritability, and can follow alcohol, benzodiazepine, stimulant, cannabis, or opioid withdrawal. Some PAWS symptoms stem from lasting neurochemical damage, while many overlapping symptoms may instead indicate PTSD, complicating differential diagnosis and treatment.

Read at Psychology Today