Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Selective nature of memory has often helped us thrive; our very survival may depend upon learning the lessons from life-threatening episodes, just like it did hundredths of years ago. However, our ability to selectively remember traumatic episodes can also harm us. Seven percent of the general population suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a form of an anxiety disorder. It usually occurs after you have been through a traumatic event, or events that are life threatening or devastating, bear strong negative emotions or cause intense fear.An interesting fact is that women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD.
Virtually any trauma, defined as an event that is life-threatening or that severely effects the physical or emotional well-being of a person and causes intense fear, may cause PTSD. Such events often include either experiencing or witnessing a severe accident or physical injury. It can be divided into three main categories: 
Direct experience - such as military combat, kidnapping or a violent personal assault (sexual assault, physical attack, robbery, mugging etc.)
Witnessed situations - including the observing the serious injury or unnatural death of another person due to violent assault, or unexpectedly witnessing a dead body or body parts.
Learned events - meaning events that do not happen to you, and you do not witness, but are tragic to those around you. When you learn of a serious accident, or a serious injury experienced by a family member or close friend, even learning about the sudden death of a loved one.

Experienced any of the mentioned events? You might have PTSD if you develop the specific symptoms.
There are different levels of symptoms for traumatic disorders such as PTSD. Some basic symptoms include re-experiencing of the event, such as flashbacks or nightmares. A more serious step from this is avoidance and fear of anything that may resemble or remind them of the trauma. This also brings on lack of interest for life circumstances. Most striking  symptoms include hyperarousal, inability to sleep, and irritability all the time.



Although you might fall into some of the mentioned categories, do not be in distress as there are different levels for traumatic experiences. They include the following:

• Acute – when the duration of symptoms is shorter than 3 months.
• Chronic – when the symptoms last three months or longer.
• With Delayed Onset - between the traumatic event and the onset of the symptoms there is at least 6 month period.

Both memory and emotion relate to PTSD, as it is a highly negative and emotional experience that can cause you this disorder. It is important to face your memories, and overcome the emotions that stop you from living a normal life. This disorder also effects your memories and emotions of the future. Not only can it cause you to heavily distress your emotional state, it can also affect the formation of future memories. Research reveals the fact that people who have been exposed to extreme stress, and traumatic experiences sometimes have a smaller hippocampus, compared to people who have not been exposed to trauma. The hippocampus is a region of the brain that plays a very important role in memory. This is significant in understanding the effects of trauma in general and the impact of PTSD, specifically since the hippocampus is the part of the brain that is thought to have an important role in developing new memories about life events.