====== Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ======

>PTSD is a medical diagnosis, established in 1980, defining symptoms that last at least a month after experiencing a major trauma. These symptoms include remembering or reliving the trauma when you do not choose to; feeling numb and withdrawn; and, having forms of anxiety that interfere with daily life."
>\\ Source : [[http://www.ptsdinfo.org/|Dart Foundation]]

The mechanisms by which severe trauma can induce PTSD are still unclear.

>Increasing levels of stress produce an inverted U-shaped effect on memory retention. Humans experiencing an acute trauma may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the key contributions of trauma to PTSD formation are still unknown."
>\\ Source : [[http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/48/15903|Journal of Neuroscience, 35 (48) ]]

Further, some individuals go on to develop PTSD whilst others (exposed to the same stressing situations) do not :

>Stress induces a shift from hippocampus-based “cognitive” toward dorsal striatum-based “habitual” learning and memory. This shift is thought to have important implications for stress-related psychopathologies, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there is large individual variability in the stress-induced bias toward habit memory, and the factors underlying this variability are completely unknown."
>\\ [[http://www.jneurosci.org/content/37/8/2149|Journal of Neuroscience, 37 (8) ]]

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Also see : [[content:medicine:treatments:emdr]]