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How Does Ptsd Work In The Brain

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How The Brain Deals With Trauma

PTSD and the Brain

As complex as the brain is, one of its primary functions is to keep us safe. As we live life, our brain converts experiences into memories so we can prioritize activities that yield good results and avoid experiences that have negative consequences. When we experience trauma, our brains work overtime to keep us safe. The brain, relying on negative blueprints of the past, keeps warning us of present danger long after the threat or traumatic experience ends. This reaction changes the way the brain functions.

According to Dr. Paul MacLean, a renowned neuroscientist, the brain can be divided into three main parts: the reptilian, mammalian, and neomammalian brain. This triune brain model believes that each part of the brain has specific functions.

  • The reptilian brain houses our survival instincts and manages autonomic body processes such as our heart rate, breathing, hunger, and thirst.
  • The mammalian brain helps us process emotions like joy and fear and regulates our attachment style.
  • The neomammalian brain is responsible for sensory processing, learning, memory, decision-making, and complex problem solving.

When we experience trauma, the brain shuts down all nonessential systems and activates the sympathetic nervous system and the mammalian brain. To help us survive the trauma, the brain releases stress hormones and activates the flight or fight response.

Ptsd And Work: How Your Job Is Affected By Disability

Trauma can shake up your life and get in the way of normal tasks. When you develop post-traumatic stress disorder , it can cause symptoms that disrupt your sleep and your ability to concentrate. After a traumatic event like a car crash or an assault, you may want to pick up the pieces and return to work, but PTSD can make that difficult.

At the same time, theres a stigma surrounding PTSD that its just in your head, and you should be able to shake it off. Unfortunately, it may be very difficult to just shake off a mental health issue like PTSD. So, what can you do about work and other duties and obligations? Does PTSD qualify for things like disability benefits and workers compensation?

Learn more about post-traumatic stress disorder and how you can manage your recovery and return to your life.

Emotional Trauma And The Hippocampus

The hippocampus is part of the limbic system in the brain. It is mostly responsible for storing and retrieving memories, while also differentiating between past and present experiences.

How trauma affects the brain, the hippocampus may be physically affected studies have shown that in people suffering from PTSD, the volume of their hippocampus may be smaller than others.

Mainly how trauma affects the brain, the hippocampus will affect the ability to recall some memories for trauma survivors.

Other memories may be extremely vivid and constantly on the mind of survivors. Environments that remind the survivor of their trauma in even small ways can cause fear, stress, and panic.

This is because the victim cannot differentiate their past trauma and the present situation. The fight-or-flight response is then activated due to the brains perception of a threat.

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Mdma For Ptsd How Ecstasy Ingredient Works In The Brain

The active ingredient in the drug ecstasy is set to be studied in large-scale clinical trials as a treatment for people with post-traumatic stress disorder, the New York Times reported on Nov. 29.

The ingredient, MDMA, has been shown to be effective in treating people with PTSD in smaller studies, which were sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies , a nonprofit organization that advocates for medical research on psychedelic substances.

But how does MDMA work in the brain? And how could its effects help those with PTSD?

MDMA has several effects on the brain that appear to make the process of talking through past traumas a more effective way of dealing with them, said Dr. Michael Mithoefer, a psychiatrist in private practice in South Carolina and a clinical researcher who has worked on earlier studies of the drug.

Currently, psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is the “definitive treatment” for people with PTSD, Mithoefer told Live Science. There are drugs approved to treat PTSD, but they only target the symptoms, he added.

Still, in a large percentage of people, psychotherapy doesn’t work well to treat the condition, Mithoefer said. Researchers think that MDMA could help people with PTSD by improving how they respond when they undergo psychotherapy, he said.

The Brain’s Response To Trauma

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)

When your brain identifies some type of threat, the amygdala is responsible for initiating a fast, automatic reaction known as the fight-or-flight response. Think of the amygdala as the alarm that sounds when something poses a danger. This alarm prepares your body to respond, either by dealing with or getting away from the threat.

The amygdala also communicates with other areas of the brain, including the hypothalamus, which then releases the stress hormone cortisol. It is the brain’s prefrontal cortex that must then assess the source of the threat and determine if the body needs to stay on high alert to deal with the threat or if the brain needs to begin calming down the body.

The prefrontal cortex acts as a braking system that helps return your body to a normal state when you realize that the threat doesn’t pose a danger or after the threat has passed.

When people have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, the amygdala becomes hyperactive while the medial prefrontal cortex becomes hypoactive.

In other words, the part of the brain that triggers a fight-or-flight response responds too strongly, often in a way that is disproportionate to the danger posed by the threat. At the same time, the part of the brain responsible for calming this reaction does not work well enough.

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The Brain Chemistry Of A Person Affected With Ptsd

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health disorder that affects how the brain works in relation to stress and trauma. When going through something traumatic, or having witnessed or experienced something a traumatic event, it is normal to suffer from post-traumatic stress. However, the difference between this and PTSD is the length of time it lasts. In most cases, the stress stemming from the trauma will dissipate after a relatively short time. PTSD is a permanent issue, and it affects how the brain functions.

Some Brains Are More Susceptible To Ptsd After Trauma Than Others

Everyone experiences trauma, but in some brains, PTSD arises where others aren’t at as much risk

Exposure to trauma is a common human experience approximately 70% of us go through at least one traumatic event during our lifetimes. Many go on to recover from the trauma, which gets stored away as a bad memory.

However, in a subset of people, trauma persists in their minds and infiltrates their daily lives. They experience intrusive thoughts, such as reliving the experience through flashbacks.” They tend to avoid anything related to the event, and have changes in mood and in their physical and emotional reactions to everyday occurrences. Eventually, people who experience these symptoms may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder , a chronic condition in which people continue to experience problems after a traumatic event.

…different factors work together in tipping the balance towards risk of developing PTSD

PTSD is very prevalent, affecting between 7-10% of the population in the US. However, not everyone who has experienced trauma goes on to develop PTSD or other stress disorders. Whats different between people who do and do not develop PTSD?

Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

…due to their heightened stress responses, the group of low-freezing animals became susceptible to developing PTSD-like behaviors.

A brain scan highlighting the location of the amygdala

NIMH

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The Link Between Stress Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Cortisol

Cortisol is the primary stress hormone, a steroid hormone of the adrenal cortex, which participates in the regulation of metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. It has a role in stress and a variety of inflammatory processes in the body . Dysregulation of the secretion of this hormone triggers severe dysregulation mechanisms in the body during stress with farreaching consequences. Hypothalamicpituitaryadrenal axis activates during the stress. If the acute stress is not removed and is prolonged to chronic stress, such deregulated secretion of cortisol can lead to outbreaks of a disease caused by suppressive effects of cortisol on the immune system. Frequent infections and neoplasms can also occur . The stimulative effect of cortisol on proinflammatory cytokines leads to autoimmune diseases and malignancies .

Headaches, as primary manifestations of hyperarousal, are among the major occurrences in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. They appear to be associated with decreased volumes of subcortical cerebral structures as well as with cooccurrence of anxiety and depression in male therapy naïve patients with PTSD .

  • Bremner D. Does stress damage the brain? Biol Psychiatry. 1999 45:797805. doi:10.1016/S00063223000098
  • 6. Newport DJ, Nemeroff CB. Neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2010 10:211218. doi:10.1016/S09594388000805
  • 28. Lazarus RS. Psychological stress and the coping process. New York: McGrawHill, 1966
  • Effects Of Pharmacotherapy On Brain Function And Structure In Ptsd

    How Trauma and PTSD Change the Brain

    We have begun to assess the effects of pharmacotherapy on brain structure and function in PTSD.243 We recently assessed the effects of phenytoin on brain structure and function. Studies in animals show that phenytoin, which is used in the treatment of epilepsy and is known to modulate glutamatergic function, blocks the effects of stress on the hippocampus.67 We studied nine patients with PTSD in an open-label function before and after treatment with phenytoin. Phenytoin resulted in a significant improvement in PTSD symptoms.164 Phenytoin also resulted in increases in both right hippocampal volume and right hemisphere volume.165 These findings indicate that phenytoin has an effects on PTSD symptoms as well as brain structure in PTSD patients.

    We have assessed the effects of open4abel paroxetine on memory and the hippocampus in PTSD. Male and female patients with symptoms of PTSD were medication-free for at least 4 weeks before participation in the study. Twenty-eight patients were found to be eligible and started the medication phase. Of the total patient sample five patients did not finish due to noncompliance 23 patients completed the study.

    Before patients started the medication phase, neuropsychological tests were administered, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Revised, WAISR , two subtests of the Wechsler Memory ScaleRevised.WMS-R, including logical memory and figural memory and the verbal and visual components of the Selective Reminding Test, SRT.

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    How Does Emdr Work

    Much like how our physical body reacts to bumps and bruises, our mind and emotional well-being is constantly attempting to heal itself. Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing therapy is a means by which you can accelerate your natural emotional healing that would otherwise take much longer. Through its desensitisation and reprocessing phases, your emotional wounds are transformed to a state of emotional resolution.

    The Processing part of EMDR does not mean talking about a traumatic experience. Processing means setting up a learning state that will allow experiences that are causing problems to be digested and stored appropriately in your brain. That means that what is useful to you from an experience will be learned, and stored with appropriate emotions in your brain, and be able to guide you in positive ways in the future.

    The eye movement aspect of the process speeds up the process of therapy and its these left to right eye movements that makes EMDR so unique. Some therapists use alternatives to finger movements, such as hand or toe tapping, light beams or musical tones, but theyre thought to replicate the REM part of sleep where the brain processes memories.

    Neurological research show that the rhythmic horizontal eye movements used in EMDR reduce the activity in the brains fear circuits. Its the eye movements that allow our brain and our nervous system to do the healing work they are capable of.

    Mri Acquisition And Preprocessing

    A high resolution T1-weighted brain MRI scan, optimized for tissue contrast, was acquired at each site and was analyzed locally . Raw T1-weighted images were then sent to Duke University for preprocessing and quality assurance using standardized ENIGMA protocols to harmonize image analyses across multiple sites. Raw and preprocessed images were visually inspected for pathology, image quality, and quality of automated segmentation . All scans were preprocessed using the same version of FreeSurfer to minimize the variability between segmentation results. Version 5.3 was chosen based on previously established preprocessing procedures for a previously trained brain age algorithm.

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    Helping The Brain Heal From Traumatic Stress

    Here at StoneRidge Centers, we know how much traumatic stress can affect the brain. Living with traumatic stress can make you highly reactive, constantly stressed, incredibly anxious, impulsive, and irrational at times. But you dont have to continue to live this way. Our treatment programs can help the brain heal from traumatic stress. Contact us today to learn more. We want to help you live the thriving life you deserve.

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    Impact Of Trauma On The Brain

    EMDR Therapy in Edmonton, AB

    When trauma such as PTSD is inflicted, lasting changes within the key brain can be created. Traumatic stress is typically associated with an increased cortisol and norepinephrine level in response to the cause of the stress. Traumas like physical and emotional trauma often lead to PTSD which on average, affects roughly 8% of Americans. PTSD can typically be a lifelong problem for most people, resulting in severe brain damage.

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    Can Ptsd Change Your Personality

    In conclusion, post-traumatic stress disorder after intense stress is a risk of long-lasting evolution of personality changes with serious individual and social consequences.

    Does PTSD rewire the brain?

    During the healing process, you can actually rewire and retrain your brain to reverse the effects of trauma. You can strengthen your prefrontal cortex and regain rationality and control.

    Can PTSD cause physical brain damage?

    People with PTSD are at increased risk for depression, physical injury, substance abuse, and trouble sleeping, which in turn can affect thoughts and actions. These risk factors also occur with brain injury. PTSD is a mental disorder, but the associated stress can cause physical harm.

    After The Threat Has Passed

    When the threat has passed, you are left with a strong, negative emotional memory of the experience, but you lack clear recollection of the context of the event. In other words, you may learn to associate individual sights, smells, and sounds from the event with danger, but be unable to recall the sequence of events clearly.

    Later on, if you encounter things that remind you of the traumatic event, like a smell that was present when it happened, your amygdala will retrieve that memory and respond strongly signaling that you are in danger and automatically activating your fight-or-flight system. This is why during a flashback, you start sweating, your heart races, and you breath heavily your amygdala has set off a chain reaction to prepare your body to respond against a threat.

    Normally when your amygdala senses a possible threat, your hippocampus will then kick in to bring in context from past memories to determine whether or not you are really in danger. But because the hippocampus wasnt functioning properly during the traumatic experience, the context of the memory wasnt stored, and theres no feedback system to tell your amygdala this situation is different and youre not in danger. Also, since the memory is retrieved without context like where or when the experience happened, you might even feel like the traumatic experience is happening again.

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    Start By Understanding How Trauma Affects The Brain

    Over the past several decades, research using neuroimaginghas enabled scientists to see that PTSD causes distinct biological changes in the brain and in fact, functioning is impaired in areas responsible for threat detection and response, and emotion regulation which accounts for most outward PTSD symptoms. Not everybody with PTSD has exactly the same symptoms or same brain changes, but there are definite typical observable patterns that can be seen and treated.

    To put it simply, when trauma first occurs, our reptilian brain takes over that part of the brain known as the brain stem which is responsible for the most vital functions of life . The brain stem kicks in the fight or flight” response and all nonessential body and mind functions are shut down so that we can focus only on what we need to survive. Then, when the threat ceases, the parasympathetic nervous system steps in again and resumes those higher functions that were recently shut down.

    However, for some trauma survivors, after effects remain, which we now know is PTSD. In these people, the brains threat and alarm system becomes overly sensitive and triggers easily, which in turn causes the parts of the brain responsible for thinking and memory to stop functioning correctly. When this occurs, its hard to separate safe and normal events happening in the present from dangerous events that happened in the past.

    The Science And Biology Of Ptsd

    How PTSD Works in the Brain

    PTSD isnt all in the mind or something you can just get over or move on from. No matter how much reasoning and coaxing you do, someone with PTSD may find it impossible to achieve sustainable recovery without professional treatment.

    Thats because post-traumatic stress disorder is a form of injury to the brain. Bringing with it physical as well as mental symptoms and changes.

    We feel its really important to understand how the brain can change with PTSD and C-PTSD. Brain scans show that PTSD symptoms and behaviours are caused by biological changes in the brain, NOT by some personal failure. Understanding the changes can also help friends and families gain a better understanding that their loved ones PTSD symptoms are not their fault. This can promote forgiveness and encourages families to become more involved in the healing process.

    Modern science has enabled us to get a far clearer picture of the brain and in fact the whole neurological systems structure and activities. It has become possible to map and measure the different development paths that each human brain follows. Our age and the things that happen to us each day naturally dictate microscopic changes to our brains structure.

    This article looks at the parts of the brain affected by PTSD.

    As a starting point, heres an important definition. The things that affect our body are referred to as physiological. When its our emotions and mental capabilities that are impacted, the word used is psychological.

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