Biological Factors That Distinguish Between Ptsd And Mdd
In contrast to the risk factor research described above, biological studies that address PTSD/MDD comorbidity generally examine how PTSD and MDD have distinct, and sometimes diverging, biological signals. This research includes studies that examine structural and functional neuroimaging, measures of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, and more recently, DNA molecular markers .
How Long Does Ptsd Last
In research on prolonged PTSD, the statistics get smaller. A study on rape survivors found that 94% had symptoms of PTSD after a week of the assault and by nine months that number declined less than 25%. Its generally believed that the average duration for posttraumatic stress disorder is three years if the proper treatment is received and five years without treatment. Failure to receive psychiatric support for this mental health condition within six years will likely result in a more challenging recovery. This is why we shouldnt hesitate to reach out to licensed mental health professionals after trauma. We deserve to be assessed for PTSD and adequately cared for there are no awards for sticking it out alone or suffering in silence.
There are several factors that are linked to prolonged PTSD. For example, alcohol and drug abuse will both exacerbate the symptoms and mask their severity. Getting into a pattern of self-medicating to push away distress, rather than deal with it, only makes things worse in the long run. A therapist can help you discover healthy coping skills that actually do what youre hoping substances will do and help improve your quality of life. If you have resistance or difficulties in adjusting your coping skills, your therapist will be there to support you without judgement. It can be hard just to breathe when youd rather drink, but all of the science shows us that the former leads to better long-term mental health.
How Often Ptsd And Depression Coincide
Depression is one of the most commonly co-occurring diagnoses in people with post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, researchers have found that among people who have a diagnosis of PTSD, approximately 48% to 55% also experienced current or previous depression.
People who have had PTSD at some point in their lives are three to five times as likely as people without PTSD to also have depression.
PTSD and depression may be connected in a number of ways.
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How Do I Know Im Experiencing Prolonged Ptsd Not Anxiety
Signs that youre experiencing PTSD symptoms and not a normal range of anxiety include vivid flashbacks or dreams about the traumatic event that cause high levels of distress, changing behaviours to avoid being triggered, feeling numb, and staying alert or hypervigilant to potential threats. These symptoms are intrusive and will interrupt daily activities. They can also affect relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. Getting support from a therapist and connecting with other survivors can help to lessen the pain.
There can be some overlap between anxiety disorders and PTSD. Anxiety symptoms include restlessness, being on edge, easily tired or frustrated, having a hard time focusing, and feelings of intense worry. Some people with posttraumatic stress disorder also experience generalized anxiety disorder, where they feel intense anxiety symptoms all the time. At times it can be difficult to differentiate between anxiety disorder symptoms and PTSD, but people with anxiety dont have to experience a traumatic event to develop anxiety and can experience anxiety symptoms without triggers. The largest difference between PTSD and anxiety, is that people experiencing PTSD mainly have symptoms in response to a traumatic event or series of events.
A Guide To The Comorbidities Of Ptsd
PTSD develops in some people after a traumatic event or prolonged trauma. Experiencing a traumatic event does not mean you are guaranteed to develop this condition, but it cannot develop without one.
PTSD is commonly undiagnosed but can seriously affect your day-to-day functioning. Around 80% of people with PTSD have a comorbidity. A comorbidity is a disorder that occurs in tandem with another disease.
This article will discuss some of the most common co-occurring health issues.
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How Common Is Depression Following Trauma
In any given year, almost 1 in 10 adult Americans has some type of depression . Depression often occurs after trauma. For example, a survey of survivors from the Oklahoma City bombing showed that 23% had depression after the bombing. This was compared to 13% who had depression before the bombing . PTSD and depression are often seen together. Results from a large national survey showed that depression is nearly 3 to 5 times more likely in those with PTSD than those without PTSD .
What Does The Freeze State Look Like
When facing extreme stress, our bodies can go into survival mode and react with the following defense mechanisms that have parallels with the symptoms of depression:
- out-of-body experiences or dissociation
On the other hand, PTSD differs from depression with these signs:
- reliving the traumatic event, such as intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, or being triggered
- avoiding situations that remind you of the traumatic event
- increase in negative thoughts about yourself that werent there before the traumatic event
- a tendency of being on high alert, jittery, and continuously looking for danger, known as hypervigilance
Psychotherapy is the recommended treatment for both PTSD and depression. Within therapy, trauma-focused treatments are often even more effective.
Therapies that address trauma may focus on:
- intrusive memories
- avoidance and escape behaviors
If you decide to seek help for the aftereffects of a trauma, it can help to talk with a therapist who specializes or has experience in treating PTSD. Theyll be able to offer specifically designed therapies to meet the unique needs that people have after experiencing trauma.
Common treatments for PTSD include prolonged exposure and cognitive processing therapy .
For example, therapists may use exposure therapy to help you face and manage your fears in a safe environment. Therapists dont tend to use these techniques for depression or other related disorders.
Psychotherapy for the treatment of depression may focus on:
Also Check: How To Heal From Complex Ptsd
How Are Ptsd And Depression Connected
Post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder are mental health issues that can be absolutely crippling for those affected.
Things get even more complicated for the patient and the treatment plan when there is comorbidity between them, meaning both occur at the same time. Many of their symptoms can overlap, but these are two distinct mental disorders.
Complex Ptsd And Emotional Flashbacks
If you have complex PTSD you may be particularly likely to experience what some people call an ’emotional flashback’, in which you have intense feelings that you originally felt during the trauma, such as fear, shame, sadness or despair. You might react to events in the present as if they are causing these feelings, without realising that you are having a flashback.
See our sections explaining what flashbacks are and tips for coping with flashbacks for more information.
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What Depression Treatment Is Available To Me
If you are living with depression and PTSD, where do you turn? As with those dealing with substance use disorders, Cameron Ritchie says you need to be examined by your physician or other healthcare provider who can help identify the best treatment for you.
According to the National Center for PTSD, treatment for PTSD and depression may be one and the same because symptoms of these conditions overlap. The center cites cognitive behavioral therapy , which helps people reorient previously negative styles of thought and action, as a proven treatment for both conditions. When it comes to medication, the center cites selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors .
When Ptsd And Major Depression Co
While there is no single, definitive cause for depression, there are risk factors and one of those is experiencing stressful events in your life. Traumatic events are stressful in the extreme, so it is not unusual for someone with PTSD to have depression as a result. It also may be that someone who has depression will be at a greater risk of developing PTSD after a traumatic experience.
Having these two mental health conditions together is not uncommon. Statistics show that about half of all people diagnosed with PTSD also have depression. It may even be possible to consider PTSD with depression a subtype of the traumatic disorder. Having both depression and PTSD increases the dysfunction that either can cause alone. In other words, living a normal life is much harder if you are both struggling to cope with trauma and experiencing major depression.
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Do The Psychopathology Groups Differ In The Severity Of Ptsd And Somatic
To examine whether the study groups differ in the intensity of PTSD symptoms 7 and 18 months after the attacks and in somatic symptoms 7 months post the attack, we conducted multivariate analysis of variance . Means, standard deviations, statistics and effect sizes are presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Means, standard deviations, statistics, and effects sizes for the differences between psychopathology groups in PTSD and somatic-related symptoms.
The analysis indicated that the study groups significantly differed in the multivariate factor of symptom severity, Pillai’s T = 0.86, F = 10.72, p< 0.001. Complementary one-way ANOVAs and discriminant analysis indicated that the comorbid group suffered from significantly higher intensity of PTSD symptoms and somatic-related symptoms than the PTSD and no-pathology groups, with the largest differences in PTSD symptoms at 7 months , followed by PTSD symptoms at 18 months , and somatic-related symptoms at 7 months . Both the comorbid and PTSD only groups had higher levels of PTSD symptom and somatic-related symptom severity than the no-pathology group.
Help For Acute Stress Disorder And Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Are Available
At Journey Pure, we make every attempt possible to care for our veterans. Those who defended us on the battlefield deserve to be defended and cared for back home. If you think you may be experiencing either of those conditions, we can help. There are many different therapeutic methods, including talk therapy and psychoactive drugs, that can help ease the suffering and manage the disease.
Especially if your symptoms include alcohol or drug abusecommon co-conditions with PTSD we are happy to help in any way we can. Contact JourneyPure today at: to be on your way on the road to recovery.
Staff Spotlight
- Getting help is as easy as picking up the phone.
- We will answer all your questions and provide an assessment.
- We will help arrange for you to come to the program and begin recovery.
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What Risks Are Associated With Ptsd
Alcohol and drug use
Some people who live with PTSD use drugs or alcohol to help manage the symptoms.
Drug or alcohol misuse can make you more unwell, especially is it is excessive. It can make you more likely to try and harm yourself or take your own life.
You can find out more about Drugs, alcohol and mental health by clicking here.
Mental health conditions
Most people who live with PTSD will have at least 1 other mental health condition. The most common conditions are:
- substance use, and
- anxiety disorders.
Other mental health conditions have some of the same symptoms as PTSD. This may be why PTSD can sometimes be hard to diagnose.
If you think you may be experiencing PTSD, you can tell your healthcare professional. You can explain that youve been through a trauma, and you think your symptoms might be related to PTSD.
You can find out more about:
Suicidal thoughts
Sometimes PTSD symptoms can be long-lasting and can have a significant impact on day-to-day life. This can sometimes lead to suicidal thoughts.
You can find out more about Suicidal thoughts How to cope by clicking here.
Psychosis
There is a link between PTSD and psychosis. But it isnt known if psychosis is sometimes a symptom of PTSD. Or if it is a separate mental health condition, that can be developed alongside PTSD.
You can find out more about Psychosis by clicking here.
Physical health issues
You can find more information about:
Diagnosis Of Ptsd And Depression:
PTSD: PTSD can sometimes go unnoticed as it often overlaps with depression.
Depression: Depression is easily noticed and mostly treated for unlike PTSD.
Image Courtesy:
1. PikiWiki Israel 36225 Soldier with ptsd By shiran golan Pikiwiki Israel , via Wikimedia Commons
2. Melancholy 2 by Andrew Mason via Wikimedia Commons
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Is Treatment The Same For Depression And Ptsd
The treatment approach can look very different for major depression and PTSD. Each diagnosis has different courses of treatment that take specialization into account.
When depression and PTSD occur together, its important for your mental health team to determine which to treat first. If depression symptoms like fatigue, poor concentration, sleep disruptions, and lack of appetite are too overwhelming to function, those will need to be lifted to work on processing the traumatic responses of your PTSD. If the PTSD symptoms are prominent, working on those should help lift any underlying depression.
This is where the team approach is truly important. A one-two punch of PTSD and depression can be tough to unravel, and likely requires a combination of both talk therapy and psychiatric treatment. When combining these approaches, it is an excellent idea to have your therapist and psychiatrist communicate in some way when you begin treatment.
Their combined analysis will inform each side of your treatment plan and ensure your most critical symptoms are being addressed first.
Depression And The Nervous System
Traumatic experiences can have a significant impact your brain and nervous system even if you arent diagnosed with depression later.
This emotional response to trauma can have a significant impact on your neurological and physiological functions. It may affect your brain chemicals and nervous system.
When faced with intense emotional stress or an unsafe situation, the body naturally engages the fight-or-flight system to help you escape from the threat.
However, if you cant escape the situation, the body engages the freeze response. Here, the nervous system shuts down, or freezes, as a way to protect yourself, like a gazelle playing dead when it cant get away from a predator.
According to polyvagal theory , if your body enters the freeze response, its known as entering dorsal vagal shutdown. Thats because this shutdown state is controlled by a part of the nervous system called the dorsal vagus nerve.
When your body enters this dorsal vagal freeze state, you may experience symptoms of depression, such as feeling numb, disconnected, fatigued, and slow. Triggers from previous traumas may lead your body to enter this state long after the trauma itself has ended.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Depression
Depression is more than just feeling sad. Most people with depression feel down or sad more days than not for at least 2 weeks. Or they find they no longer enjoy or have interest in things anymore. If you have depression, you may notice that you’re sleeping and eating a lot more or less than you used to. You may find it hard to stay focused. You may feel down on yourself or hopeless. With more severe depression, you may think about hurting or killing yourself. See Suicide and PTSD.
Are Treatments Different
Treatments for PTSD and C-PTSD are similar. The main treatments are psychotherapy, medication, or a combo of both.
Therapy for PTSD and C-PTSD can help you learn more about your trauma and how it affects you. Therapy can also help you develop coping skills for triggers and give you tools to manage your symptoms.
For some, medication such as antidepressants may also be helpful to manage symptoms.
One difference between the two mental health conditions is that those living with C-PTSD may need long-term therapy and support to recover. Theres also an emphasis on forming a strong therapeutic alliance.
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Seeking Help Is Crucial
Understanding the difference between anxiety, PTSD, and prolonged PTSD is a crucial first step in educating ourselves about the effects of trauma. However, identifying symptoms can be easier said than done.
Research has found that a major blocker to getting support involves individuals who believe they dont have a problem. Other obstacles are treatment cost, lack of knowledge that resources exist, stigma, fear of forced hospitalization, language barriers, and poor experiences with facilities or quality of care. This is why its especially important and helpful to share information with our community and take action when a loved one is suffering. Once anxiety has crossed over into the threshold of PTSD, the data is clear that treatment makes all the difference.
We dont have to suffer alone and hope that things get better. We deserve the support to get through PTSD and come out stronger on the other side.
Can Ptsd Be Misdiagnosed As Bipolar Disorder
Mental health conditions are misdiagnosed from time to time, often because many involve overlapping symptoms. Whats more, even the same symptoms wont always affect everyone in the same way.
With mania, for examples, many people feel as if they can get a lot done or spend hours focused on a specific task, such as the following scenarios:
- You might feel inspired to rush to the store, buy a complete stock of baking ingredients, and spend the night baking your way through your favorite cookbook.
- Someone else might start several different projects around the house reorganizing closets, packing up clothes for donations, cleaning the bathrooms but move from task to task, leaving them all unfinished.
Symptoms can also change over time, so the picture your therapist gets at first may not be a exact representation of how you feel on a regular basis.
In terms of bipolar disorder and PTSD, misdiagnosis does happen. Despite the differences in the two conditions, they do share symptoms. As a result, some therapists may diagnose bipolar disorder when a PTSD diagnosis would better explain your symptoms.
One possible explanation relates to the fact that PTSD may not show up for several months. When you do begin to notice emotional distress and changes in your mood and emotions, you might not immediately associate them with the trauma you experienced.
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