Prazosin Augmentation of Outpatient Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders in Active Duty Soldiers With and Without PTSD

The proposed study is a 19-week, titration to stable dose, randomized, two-group parallel-design, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of prazosin for decreasing alcohol use in 200 active duty Service Members who served in the conflicts in Iraq and/or Afghanistan who are receiving standard outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorders at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Treatment groups will be stratified by presence or absence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and by assignment to the 6-week or 12-week Army Substance Abuse Program. The hypotheses are that: 1) prazosin is more effective than placebo for alcohol use disorders in these Service Members; and 2) that prazosin effect size will be greater in Service Members with PTSD than without PTSD.