"those who'd taken propranolol were simply less afraid than those who hadn't." less affraid doesnt equate to not affraid at all. and since there was obviously SOME fear from something it simply doesnt work! and giving people betablockers just makes them numb anyway.

thats like saying 'wow, heroine can stop people getting stressed out'

.. I could get some to erase the memory of my Ex?

Prescribed Propranalol for regular migraines in my late teens and always put my hazy memories of my college years down to ingestion of... other substances.

The reaction to unpleasant situations is part of the learning experience; suppressing it could leave someone more vulnerable to the real world.

I take a similar beta blocker (bisoprolol) to control a cardiac arrhythmia, and have found that, for an hour or two after my daily dose, I am less bothered about unpaid bills and the like. This has sometimes led to problems.

This use of beta blockers may have some function in the treatment of people who are badly distressed by a very serious incident, but I hope it will not be used as a panacea, as too many drugs are.

I was on this stuff for 3 years a while back and it didn't erase any unpleasant memories for me, if anything it made more because it gave me wild mood swings and monged me out. Not in a nice way either. Dreadful stuff. Bl**dy quacks.

I was prescribed beta-blockers after a particularly stressful time in my life. Recently I have been asked to remember various things that happened around then (1996/7 ish) and have found it very difficult to do so. Perhaps this is the reason/excuse I need to explain why?

I'd love to lose most of highschool.

You cite being given SSRIs, and an extremely off-label prescription of an antihypertensive drug, for an anxiety problem. Were you ever prescribed an anxiolytic?

No, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to be researching how to edit human memory. Who do *you* feel you can trust with that power? Why?

I could do with some of this after every single day at work.

It might help to block the nightmares....

.

"The reaction to unpleasant situations is part of the learning experience"

Err, so what you're trying to say is that people who were rape victims, or suffering from PTSD or from any myriad number of disorders should not be allowed to seek treatment from an event that by all accounts should not have happened to them?

At least for management. Hand them out at will and you will forget why you want to leave the crappy company you work for .

Whilst it's always valuable to have research peer-reviewed, this is by no means the first discovery of this effect. Researchers at Harvard were studying it five years ago: http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/03.18/01-ptsd.html and in Montreal three years ago: http://www.chrcrm.org/main/modules/pageworks/index.php?page=002&id=1374

want blue smarties want blue smarties want blue smarties Now!!!

Not off label at all. The British National Formulary says quite clearly under Indications and dose:

"Anxiety with symptoms such as palpitation, sweating, tremor, 40 mg once daily, increased to 40 mg 3 times daily if necessary"

Section 4.1.2 on Anxiolytics says

"Beta-blockers (e.g. propranolol, oxprenolol) (section 2.4) do not affect psychological symptoms, such as worry, tension, and fear, but they do reduce autonomic symptoms, such as palpitation and tremor; they do not reduce non-autonomic symptoms, such as muscle tension. Beta-blockers are therefore indicated for patients with predominantly somatic symptoms; this, in turn, may prevent the onset of worry and fear. Patients with predominantly psychological symptoms may obtain no benefit."

It sounds like entirely appropriate prescribing to me... most other anxiolytics are of the same family as Valium

If you read my post all the way through, you would find I did not exclude any appropriate treatment for traumatised patients. I merely suggested that beta blockers should not be used as a panacea, as some drugs have been with unfortunate consequences,

As for the learning experience, it is, at all levels, the basis of our lives. Starting with our parents (or carers), siblings, then childhood friends, teachers, more friends, colleagues, strangers (friendly or otherwise), work, vehicles and other machinery, the media, world politics, whatever has shaped our view of the world.

For myself, I hate the idea of losing any of that, but I can also see that it may sometimes be necessary to help some who are distressed. I merely advised caution against yet another magic pill.

No one is forgetting anything ... they are just breaking the subconscious association spider = electric shock.

After that the spider triggered discomfort which was enough to at least partially sustain the conditioning without the shocks.

This shows that taking a beta blocker will speed up desensitization. This could be very useful when someone is trying to overcome a traumatic event or a phobia.

I just miss the part where memory is affected?

Drugs, the "aware" way to live a life.

Soon: A drug to make you forget you're on drugs (also deals with pesky independent and creative thought).

" I'd love to lose most of highschool. "

Are you, perchance, a teacher?

On another note -- why hasn't anyone mentioned Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

Buy it, rent it, download it, whatever.

True must-see cinema.

Oops - just "spotted" the URL!

......if you could autodose this on being rickrolled.

The fun would never end ldo