PTSD (ps2008- week 7)

A mental health disorder triggered by a traumatic event like war, abuse, or a life-threatening experience, causing recurring flashbacks, nightmares, and avoidance behaviors.

A disorder focused on traumatic events that involve imminent death or serious injury, marked by intense distress, avoidance, and re-experiencing of the event.

A condition affecting children who have experienced prolonged abuse, neglect, or disruption in early attachment bonds, leading to difficulties forming healthy relationships.

A disorder characterized by children who are extremely social, lack boundaries, and readily seek attention from strangers, even if they are unsafe.

A disorder that arises when individuals experience significant difficulty adjusting to major life stressors, such as a job loss or a relationship breakup.

The process of directly or indirectly being exposed to actual or perceived threats of death, injury, violence, or horrific details of trauma.

Symptoms like disturbing memories, nightmares, flashbacks, intense distress, and exaggerated reactions to reminders of the trauma.

A key feature of PTSD involving persistent avoidance of trauma-related thoughts, feelings, and external reminders.

The inability to recall important features of the traumatic event, such as the details of the event or specific moments.

Experiencing overly negative thoughts about oneself, the world, and others, frequently blaming oneself or others for the trauma.

A sense of detachment from one's own body, thoughts, or feelings. It's like feeling like an outsider observing oneself.

Experiencing a disconnect from the environment, like the world feels unreal or strange.

A chronic form of PTSD characterized by experiencing PTSD symptoms along with additional challenges like intense emotional dysregulation, negative self-view, and relationship difficulties.

A marked increase in irritability, anger, and numbness, often associated with Complex PTSD.

A significantly reduced sense of self-worth, feeling worthless, defeated, or incapable.

The amygdala, responsible for processing fear and threat, becomes overactive in people with PTSD, leading to an exaggerated stress response that doesn't return to normal.

The hippocampus, crucial for memory formation and contextualizing events, often has reduced activity and volume in individuals with PTSD. This can contribute to intrusive memories and difficulty remembering the traumatic event as a past experience.

The HPA axis, responsible for managing stress responses, is dysregulated in PTSD. This can lead to lower levels of cortisol, which normally helps regulate stress responses, potentially contributing to persistent PTSD symptoms.

The HPA axis involves a chain reaction starting with the hypothalamus releasing CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone), which then prompts the pituitary gland to release ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone). ACTH acts on the adrenal gland, leading to the release of adrenaline (short-term stress) and cortisol (long-term stress).

Genes play a significant role in PTSD risk, influencing both the likelihood of exposure to trauma and the individual's reactivity to it. Around 30-40% of PTSD risk is attributed to genetic factors.

Elevated levels of norepinephrine and dopamine, neurotransmitters involved in the stress response, have been linked to PTSD and the learning of fear. This suggests that individuals with higher levels of these neurochemicals may have more intense fear associations.

Reduced levels of cortisol and serotonin in individuals with PTSD have been associated with an increased startle response and exaggerated fear memories. These neurochemicals play essential roles in regulating mood and fear responses.

Epigenetics studies how environmental experiences can influence gene expression, impacting how genes are turned on or off. Animal studies have shown that learned aversions can be passed down to offspring, suggesting that traumatic experiences can trigger epigenetic changes.

A neutral stimulus (like a sound or object) that becomes associated with a fear response, similar to a 'conditioned stimulus' (CS) in classical conditioning.

Internal or external cues that trigger strong fear or anxiety, similar to conditioned stimuli (CS), reminding a person of a traumatic event.

Prolonged avoidance of situations or stimuli associated with a traumatic event, often driven by fear and negative reinforcement (removing fear).

A theory explaining how traumatic memories are stored, involving both verbal (conscious) and non-verbal (subconscious) memory systems.

A memory system that stores consciously processed memories in the hippocampus, ordered and organized, similar to 'explicit memory' (conscious).

A memory system that stores brief subconscious memories in the amygdala, often relived as flashbacks, similar to 'implicit memory' (unconscious).

A type of therapy that focuses on challenging and changing dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors that hinder processing of the trauma, similar to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) but specifically for trauma.

A method of exposure therapy that involves confronting traumatic memories in a safe and controlled way, often through imagination or verbal descriptions, gradually reducing fear and anxiety.

The hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex are less active in people with PTSD, which suggests that the limbic system, responsible for emotions, is overactive.

A heightened response to negative stimuli in the amygdala before the onset of trauma is associated with an increased risk of developing PTSD.

Repeated exposure to traumatic experiences increases susceptibility to developing PTSD. 

Pre-existing mental health issues, previous trauma, and gender can all influence PTSD vulnerability.

Women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD.

The type, frequency, severity, and perceived threat of trauma can all contribute to PTSD development. People who also experience dissociation during trauma are more susceptible.

How people interpret a traumatic event is important in understanding PTSD. A catastrophic interpretation of events can lead to a persistent sense of threat.

The mental defeat model argues that those who frequently experience trauma may develop a sense of vulnerability and helplessness, increasing their risk of PTSD.