User:Brieeeeloren/sandbox

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Practice Editing Here (Nov 23rd in-class Wiki session work)

 * Specific Phobia

Assignment # 3
Proposed changes: As of late 2020, there is limited evidence for the use of pharmacotherapy in the treatment of specific phobia. The selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), paroxetine and escitalopram, have shown preliminary efficacy in small randomized controlled clinical trials. However, these trials were too small to show any definitive benefits of anxiolytic medication alone in treating phobia.

Benzodiazepines are occasionally used for acute symptom relief, but have not been shown to be effective for long term treatment. There are some findings suggesting that adjuvant use of the NMDA receptor partial agonist, d-cycloserine, with virtual reality exposure therapy may improve specific phobia symptoms more than virtual reality exposure therapy alone. As of 2020, studies on the use of adjunct d-cycloserine are inconclusive.

Rational for proposed changes: Expand existing section on pharmacotherapy for specific phobia. Specifically, studies examining the efficacy of SSRIs in treating specific phobia are not currently mentioned in the article. Information discussing the use of adjunctive D-cycloserine are limited and do not accurately illustrate the current lack of robust evidence on pharmacotherapeutic approaches for phobia. There is a lack of consensus among studies on the effectiveness of D-cycloserine, and long-term SSRI and benzodiazepines for treating specific phobic – both the Canadian and British anxiety clinical practice guidelines list cognitive behavioural therapy as first line interventions for specific phobia, stating that only “some” patients benefit from pharmacological treatment.

Critique of Source: I chose to use the Canadian and British anxiety clinical practice guidelines in lieu of review articles or meta-analyses as these non-clinical secondary sources had significant variety in their findings – particularly in whether or not D-cycloserine enhanced or reduced the efficacy of psychological exposure therapy. The sole inclusion of these guidelines, although reducing variation between sources, limits the scope of included information to that with direct clinical relevance.

What to post on the Wikipedia article talk page?

 * This will also be covered on Nov 23rd in class. Your group should use the below template to share an outline of your proposed improvements (including your new wording and citations). Article talk pages are not places to share your assignment answers. The Wikipedia community will be more interested in viewing your exact article improvement suggestions including where you plan to improve the article (which section), what wording you suggest, and the exact citation (Note: all citations must meet WP:MEDRS)
 * You will not be able to paste citations directly from your sandbox to talk pages (unless you are interested in editing/learning Wiki-code in the "source editing" mode). We suggest re-adding your citations on the talk page manually (using the cite button and populating the citation by pasting in the DOI, website, or PMID). You will have to repeat this process yet again when you edit the actual article live.
 * Talk Page Template: CARL Medical Editing Initiative/Fall 2020/Talk Page Template