How Does PTSD Affect the Brain?
Trauma is known to cause a lot of different signs and symptoms on and in a person’s body.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extremely common and very serious mental health condition. When you witness a traumatic event or experience a traumatic event, it can trigger PTSD.
Some of the most common signs and symptoms of PTSD include anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and an inability to control thoughts, emotions, or feelings relating to the traumatic event.
When the trauma that someone experiences lasts for over a few months, or the symptoms start to get worse over time, it’s usually a sign of PTSD.
But trauma doesn’t just have a negative impact on the body. Trauma can also negatively impact the brain as well. Let’s learn more about how PTSD affects the brain.
The Amygdala
The amygdala is the part of the brain that can sense danger. It also can help you defend yourself by putting you into fight, flight, fawn, or freeze mode. After someone experiences a traumatic event, the body and brain are usually able to switch back to their normal functioning. With PTSD, this doesn’t always happen. Since the body and brain believe that they’re still in a state of high alert from experiencing a type of threat, the amygdala will have a hard time returning to normal functioning. This means that it will have a more difficult time trying to decide if the threat has passed or if it’s still occurring. As a result, you may feel like you’re constantly on edge, anxious, stressed, or on high alert.
The Hippocampus
The hippocampus is the part of the brain that acts as your learning center. Research has shown that when someone experiences a traumatic event, the hippocampus can actually shrink in size and become less active. Since this is the learning center of the brain, this change in size can actually cause memory and problem-solving issues. Someone who experiences a traumatic event may have a stronger emotional reaction and may also have a hard time differentiating between past and present events.
The Prefrontal Cortex
The prefrontal cortex is in charge of making decisions, especially rational and levelheaded ones. Similar to how trauma affects the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex is also a little less active with trauma. Due to this, a person struggling with trauma will have a more difficult time thinking logically and controlling their fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response.
PTSD and the Brain
There are many different signs and symptoms that the body and brain can show when PTSD is present. These are some of the most common signs and symptoms of PTSD:
Anger
Anxiety
Difficulty making decisions
Exhausted
Flashbacks
Hypervigilance
Irritability
Lack of concentration
Learning problems
Memory issues
Nightmares
Relationship problems
Panic attacks
Treatment for PTSD
Both the body and brain can be heavily affected in negative ways due to trauma. Living with trauma isn’t easy, but healing and moving forward in your life is possible. Just because PTSD has been shown to have a negative impact on your body and brain doesn’t mean it can’t be treated.
There are several different self-care strategies or mindfulness techniques that you can use in your current lifestyle to try to reduce some of the signs or symptoms you may be experiencing. There are also several highly effective and recommended forms of therapy that are specifically designed for things like PTSD. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help. In fact, it’s encouraged. We’re here to help you when you’re ready. Reach out to us today to set up a consultation.