The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been a worldwide chronic, stress-inducing
natural catastrophe associated with increased emotional challenging.
Patients with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-injury
behavior, and obesity are predisposed to aggravation of their symptoms
at this time, requiring new therapeutic approaches to balance their
disrupted neuro-hormonal stress axis. Here we present our observations
of an off-label treatment with lamotrigine in an adolescent girl with
PTSD, self-injury behavior, and obesity. Lamotrigine was an efficacious
pharmaceutical intervention that helped the patient deal with chronic
stress and associated anxiety. The results are discussed based on our
previous basic research outcomes in animals and humans that focused on
the glutamate-cortisol circuits within the limbic brain