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Post-traumatic stress disorder
Make it clearer
Post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is a common psychiatric disorder that can develop after someone experiences a traumatic event. Its symptoms touch several areas: cognition, which is the way a person thinks; mood; what the body feels; and behavior.
To understand what is happening inside, you need to know about the amygdala, a brain structure with an important role in detecting threats and responding with fear. It works like the smoke detector in a kitchen: its job is to go off when there is danger. The frontal cortex, the part of the brain behind the forehead, usually turns down the volume on that alarm. In PTSD, that ability of the frontal lobe to turn down the volume is dysregulated, in other words, disrupted.
And something important: going through trauma may or may not leave long-term mental health effects. People who have a strong support network are less likely to develop PTSD.
In brief
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common psychiatric disorder that can develop after experiencing a traumatic event, and it affects cognition, mood, bodily experience, and behavior.
The amygdala plays an important role in detecting threats and responding with fear, and the frontal cortex usually tempers its activation; in this disorder, that frontal ability to temper it is dysregulated.
Going through trauma may or may not leave long-term mental health effects, and people with a strong support network are less likely to develop it.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPosttraumatic Stress Disorder, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated