neurolove: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder...

Hi everyone ^_^ My name is Kimberlin Ann. Welcome to my blog

See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you.

I enjoy watching the sky, sunset and the stars. It makes me more relaxed and forget about all my worries.

I have Scoleciphobia. So bear with me if I panic when I see those things.

Usually I am silent, but if you talk, the game has just begun :)

I gave up a lot of things for me to start a new life in this new place.

I enjoy laughing.

I love when two people look at the same thing but see something different.

I get overly excited about small things.

I miss living by the beach.

Perfect is boring

I go with the flow.

I like to be organized.

Reading is one of my favorite things to do.

Call me weird, but I do believe that aliens once inhabit in our planet.

I'm skeptical about December 21, 2012

You'll never see me anywhere during the daytime. I'm a night person :)

Stopping time through photography.

neurolove:

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Someone asked me to give more information about PTSD, so I thought I would do a couple posts about it. After depression and substance abuse, PTSD is one of the most prevalent mental disorders. An estimate of 70% of people in the US are exposed to a traumatic event in their lifetime (car accident, combat, physical/sexual assault), but only about 14-24% of these people will develop PTSD. It has slightly higher prevalence for women (10-14%) than men (5-6%), but is much higher in soldiers than civilians. For instance, 30% of Vietnam veterans had PTSD and almost half of prisoners of war developed PTSD in their lifetimes.

It is important to note that PTSD cannot be diagnosed until 30 days after a traumatic event, since some of the symptoms are “normal” to be seen immediately following the event. It is their persistence that creates a problem.

The criteria for diagnosis of PTSD are:

Criterion A - Exposure to a traumatic stressor.
Criterion B - Re-experiencing symptoms.
Criterion C - Avoidance and numbing symptoms.
Criterion D - Symptoms of increased arousal (i.e. hyper-vigilance).
Criterion E - Duration of at least one month.
Criterion F - Significant distress or impairment of functioning.

In the image above taken from the NIMH site, you can see the VMPFC and amygdala are highlighted. That is because the amygdala creates a fear response and the VMPFC is able to extinct a fear response. In PTSD, it is thought that this system is somehow hindered and the individual is unable to extinct the fear response.

(via fuckyeahmedicalstuff)