Testing oxygen therapy in a pressurized chamber for PTSD

This study is testing hyperbaric oxygen therapy — a treatment where you breathe oxygen at higher-than-normal pressure inside a special chamber — to see if it can help reduce PTSD symptoms. Researchers want to understand whether this treatment works, how long the benefits last, and whether it's safe and helpful for people struggling with trauma. This is a carefully controlled study with a placebo comparison, meaning some participants will receive the full treatment while others receive a lower pressure version, and neither you nor the researchers will know which group you're in during the study.

PTSD affects many people, especially those exposed to combat and trauma, and current treatments don't work well for everyone. A few small studies suggest this oxygen therapy might help, but they had problems with their design. This trial is trying to answer the question more rigorously by including women (who were left out before), following people for two years after treatment, and using a fair comparison to see if the treatment really works.