Post Traumatic Stress And Memory

Those diagnosed with PTSD have shown a reduction in the volume of the hippocampus. The hippocampus helps humans remember new memories and then be able to recall them later, and also helps identify between past and present memories. The amygdala is another section of the brain affected by PTSD, and the amygdala is responsible for processing emotions and fear. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is shown to have a decreased size in cases. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex regulates negative emotions like stress, anxiety, and fear. The strange behaviours of the patients diagnosed with PTSD can be explained by the damage to the brain. “Researchers believe that the brain changes caused by PTSD increase the tendency of a person developing other psychotic and mood disorders” (brainblogger.com). The brain is like a machine made up of small parts, and if one of these parts break, the machine does not function

At least 50% of all adults and children are exposed to a psychologically traumatic event (such as a life-threatening assault or accident, humanmade or natural disaster, or war). As many as 67% of trauma survivors experience lasting psychosocial impairment, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); panic, phobic, or generalized anxiety disorders; depression; or substance abuse.(Van der Kolk, et al, 1994) Symptoms of PTSD include persistent involuntary re-experiencing of traumatic distress, emotional numbing and detachment from other people, and hyperarousal (irritability, insomnia, fearfulness, nervous agitation). PTSD is linked to structural neurochemical changes in the central nervous system which may have a direct

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can do a range of things to the brain. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder makes the victim continuously remember the event. It was originally known as “shell shock” where vets were struggling going through daily life. Finally after the Vietnam War Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was “identified and given its name.” When these discoveries were made, proper treatment was then given to the victims. Research shows that

PTSD is a mental disease that is most common in veterans and people of war zones. When a person goes through a traumatic event the stress responses of the brain change in the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex creating permanent or long lasting change. The amygdala is responsible for the actions that are caused by the stress receptor being stimulated, the prefrontal cortex is responsible for the cognitive function of a human due to the stress receptors bing stimulated, and hippocampus is responsible for the memories of trauma due to the stress

Post-traumatic stress disorder was officially classified approximately three decades ago. Considering its relatively recent discovery, the complete etiology and optimal biological therapies are yet to be elucidated. This review examines the neural correlates and biomarkers of PTSD along with biological therapy options. Studies revealed that hypoactivation of the ACC and hyperactivation of the amygdala are consistent with PTSD, suggesting that the prefrontal cortex may be increasingly unable to regulate the emotional processes of the amygdala.

The aim of this study is to assess the effects of post-traumatic stress on brain functioning, in particular executive functioning and information processing of children and adolescents. This study also aims to evaluate prazosin as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. Specifically, the study focuses on the treatment of sleep disturbances such as insomnia, nightmares and altered sleep schedules. The hypotheses of this study is that the subjects with PTSD will perform weaker in the tasks given compared to healthy subjects, and that prazosin will improve their sleep cycles and overall conditions.

People with PTSD will re-experience flashbacks of traumatic events in their lives causing them to blank out, faint, staying in one position for long periods of time, and can sometimes hurt themselves with bladed items and weaponry. Victims of PTSD will also encounter recurring nightmares that usually involve remembering what they have gone through and in turn making them relive the experience once again. PTSD victims have also been known to abuse the use of alcohol and drugs in order for them to block out the memories of the traumatic experience that they went through. And these acts can in turn create extreme paranoia, delusions, and sometimes using this method has led to murder of others and extreme

Learning can be affected by many things that occur throughout a student’s education career. Therefore, has anyone ever thought of how a student’s mental well-being could affect their learning process? The fact is, approximately 4-6% of youth nationwide will be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) upon meeting the specific criteria due to experiencing a traumatic event that includes symptoms such as reduced concentration and disturbing thoughts, which may rigorously interfere with school performance (Kataoka, Langley, Wong, Baweja & Stein, 2012). While these percentages may seem small, it is still extremely important that students and instructors alike are made aware of PTSD, its symptoms and effective treatments in order to provide support for one another.

National Institute of Mental Health (2001, p.5) reported that researches have shown how PTSD alters different chemicals in the brain, “abnormal levels of brain chemicals that affect coping behavior, learning and memory as well as the metabolisms and blood flow in the brain.” When Meltzer et al., (2009) examined the correlation of the children who exposed to DV and childhood mental health, they found children who have exposed to DV have a higher risk of developing PTSD than the ones who never had any exposure to DV. The researchers implied that these PTSD symptoms may persist into early adolescence or later on into their adulthood. Furthermore, they recognized that children who show more symptoms of depression and anxiety were the ones

Individuals can develop emotional, psychological and physical distress and injuries that result from experiencing a traumatic event. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can afflict individuals that have undergone severe traumatic stressors. PTSD is a disorder in which the memory of the traumatic event comes to dominate the victims’ consciousness, diminishing their lives of true meaning and pleasure (Van der Kolk, 2000). Trauma not only impacts an individual’s mind, but it can also significantly modify the way the brain processes future information (Swenson, 2012). For those with PTSD do not have a clear memory of the traumatic event they experienced. The traumatic memories lack the ability to recall the traumatic memory verbally. These memoirs can be displayed in flash back, bodily sensations, feelings, behaviors, and physiological reactions. PTSD symptoms include instructive recollections, avoidance of reminders or triggers, and a higher level of being in an aroused state.

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a mental health disease that affects a large part of the world’s population today. According to the Nebraska Veteran Affairs Department, almost 8 percent of Americans will have PTSD in their lifetime. (http://www.ptsd.ne.gov/what-is-ptsd.html) The number jumps to a staggering 30% when looking at men and women who have served in the military. This paper will look back at the history of PTSD as well as an overview of what triggers this illness in the brain.

Research shows that many brain and hormonal changes may occur as a result of early, prolonged trauma, and contribute to troubles with learning, memory, and regulating emotions. Combined with a disruptive, abusive home environment, these brain and hormonal changes may contribute to severe behavioral difficulties (“Post-Traumatic” 1).

With the lack of certain resources, in the middle of my research, I decided to combine the details of the few cases I could find with my own knowledge of child abuse and with the small amount of information I discovered on www.headline.time.com to find out the mental process of a child who has experienced child abuse. This method helped me conduct my research of the mental process of a victim of child abuse, ultimately learning that a child who has experienced high-stress levels of maltreatment (child abuse) most likely has damage of the hippocampus which may affect his/her ability to cope with stress later in life. In other words, early stress makes the brain less resilient to the effects of later stress which leaves victims more vulnerable to depression, addiction, and post-traumatic stress

If we had an option to wipe out our memory, would we choose to forget about the events that involved actual or threatened death, serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of ourselves or others? For soldiers, it may be losing a close comrade in a war. For me or any other ordinary individuals, they may be natural or human-made disasters, violent personal attack, torture or even sexually abuse(Parekh). The truth is, we don’t want to be reminded of any of these terrible events that took away a small portion of our lives.

Traumatic events also produce profound and lasting changes in physiological arousal, emotion, cognition, and memory. Moreover, traumatic events may result in the severance of these normally integrated functions from one another. Traumatized individuals may also suffer from the memories of the tragic or horrifying experiences they have undergone. Frequently, as a result of these many symptoms, it becomes inevitable for the individual to develop certain complications associated with trauma-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder.