22nd February 2024

Background

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) usually occurs following one or more traumatic life events. Whilst the symptoms described in the presentation section below can develop following any traumatic event, in those with PTSD, these symptoms are persistent and have a significant impact on the lives of patients and their loved ones. Those at risk of PTSD include victims of war, torture, abuse, sexual assault and survivors of disasters, serious illness, or traumatic childbirth. It also affects those who serve in the army, the police force and emergency services. It is often comorbid with depression and anxiety. Other risk factors for developing PTSD include a family or personal history of mental health disorders, abuse as a child, the presence of survivors’ guilt or persisting trauma. PTSD sufferers will often relive the traumatic event rather than just simply remember the event due to disruption in the storing and processing of the traumatic event in their memory. The hypervigilance and exaggerated startle response is thought to be due to the hypertrophy of the amygdala, the emotional processing centre of the brain. Despite flashbacks of the event and constant reminders of the trauma, the sufferers may not completely remember all the details relating to the trauma (an atrophied hippocampus, the memory centre, is thought to be a factor).