Women who experience physical violence are more likely to develop PTSD than men. Intimate partner violence
An individual that has been exposed to domestic violence is predisposed to the development of PTSD. There is a strong association between the development of PTSD in mothers that experienced domestic violence during the perinatal period of their pregnancy.Those who have experienced sexual assault or rape may develop symptoms of PTSD. PTSD symptoms include re-experiencing the assault, avoiding things associated with the assault, numbness, and increased anxiety and an increased startle response. The likelihood of sustained symptoms of PTSD is higher if the rapist confined or restrained the person, if the person being raped believed the rapist would kill them, the person who was raped was very young or very old, and if the rapist was someone they knew. The likelihood of sustained severe symptoms is also higher if people around the survivor ignore (or are ignorant of) the rape or blame the rape survivor. War-related trauma
Military service is a risk factor for developing PTSD. Around 78% of people exposed to combat do not develop PTSD; in about 25% of military personnel who develop PTSD, its appearance is delayed.Refugees are also at an increased risk for PTSD due to their exposure to war, hardships, and traumatic events. The rates for PTSD within refugee populations range from 4% to 86%. While the stresses of war affect everyone involved, displaced persons have been shown to be more so than others.Challenges related to the overall psychosocial well-being of refugees are complex and individually nuanced.
In double-blind, placebo-controlled trials other SSRIs like fluvoxamine, escitalopram and sertraline showed reduction of social anxiety symptoms, including anxiety, sensitivity to rejection and hostility.Citalopram also appears to be effective.General side-effects are common during the first weeks while the body adjusts to the drug. Symptoms may include headaches, nausea, insomnia and changes in sexual behavior. Treatment safety during pregnancy has not been established. In late 2004 much media attention was given to a proposed link between SSRI use and suicidality [a term that encompasses suicidal ideation and attempts at suicide as well as suicide]. For this reason, [although evidential causality between SSRI use and actual suicide has not been demonstrated] the use of SSRIs in pediatric cases of depression is now recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as warranting a cautionary statement to the parents of children who may be prescribed SSRIs by a family doctor. Recent studies have shown no increase in rates of suicide. These tests, however, represent those diagnosed with depression, not necessarily with social anxiety disorder. In addition, studies show that more socially phobic patients treated with anti-depressant medication develop hypomania than non-phobic controls. The hypomania can be seen as the medication creating a new problem. Other drugs
Other prescription drugs are also used, if other methods are not effective. Before the introduction of SSRIs, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) such as phenelzine were frequently used in the treatment of social anxiety.