Questions about Post-traumatic stress disorder
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder and what causes it?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops after experiencing a traumatic event such as sexual assault, combat, natural disasters, or other threats to a person's life or well-being. Symptoms include intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance of reminders, and a heightened fight-or-flight response lasting more than one month after the event. Most people who experience trauma do not develop PTSD; interpersonal violence such as rape and assault carries a higher risk than non-assault traumas like accidents.
When was PTSD officially recognized as a diagnosis?
PTSD was officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). The term was first recommended in a working group finding presented to the Committee of Reactive Disorders in early 1978, driven largely by the experiences of U.S. military veterans of the Vietnam War.
What are the most effective treatments for PTSD?
Prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive processing therapy (CPT), and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) have the strongest evidence for treating PTSD and are recommended as first-line treatments by nearly all clinical practice guidelines. Among medications, sertraline, fluoxetine, paroxetine, and venlafaxine have shown a small to modest benefit over placebo; paroxetine and sertraline hold FDA approval for PTSD treatment. The FDA rejected MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD treatment in 2024, citing trial design and safety concerns.
How common is PTSD in the United States?
About 3.5% of U.S. adults have PTSD in a given year, and 9% develop it at some point in their lives. Women are more than twice as likely as men to develop PTSD over their lifetimes, at 9.7% versus 3.6%. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimated that 830,000 Vietnam War veterans had symptoms of PTSD.
What brain changes occur in people with PTSD?
A 2007 study found that Vietnam War combat veterans with PTSD had a 20% reduction in hippocampus volume compared to veterans without PTSD symptoms. People with PTSD also show decreased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, areas linked to emotional regulation. Most people with PTSD show low cortisol secretion and high catecholamine levels, a pattern distinct from normal stress responses and associated with prolonged, poorly contained fear reactions.
Can PTSD be passed down through generations?
Research by neuroscientist Dr. Rachel Yehuda found evidence of intergenerational transmission of trauma in Holocaust survivors and their offspring. The study found measurable effects on methylation of the stress-linked FKBP5 gene both in parents who experienced trauma in concentration camps and in their children. Approximately 30% of the variance in PTSD susceptibility is attributed to genetics alone.