Most common causes of PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop following a frightening experience.

If you have PTSD, you may have distressing thoughts and feelings about the event, as well as nightmares, hyperarousal, flashbacks, anger, and memory problems.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. PTSD is one of the most common psychiatric diseases in the United States, affecting around 8 million adults.

Understanding the different types of scenarios that might trigger PTSD, as well as how it develops in your brain, will help you prepare for your healing journey.

Common Causes of PTSD

PTSD can be caused by a variety of unpleasant circumstances. In essence, it may occur if you feel:

• Intense terror.
• helplessness.
• Fear of losing a life.

It may be more frequent than you realize. For example, more than 22% of the 50 million people who are involved in traffic accidents each year get PTSD.

According to research trusted Source, people who have encountered interpersonal crimes, such as rape or being held at gunpoint, are more likely to develop PTSD than those who have undergone noninterpersonal traumas, such as natural disasters.

Common causes of post-traumatic stress disorder include:

• Being a victim of crime.
• Childbirth experiences, such as baby loss.
• Child or domestic abuse.
• Homicide of a loved one.
• A mall shooting is an example of mass violence.
• Natural calamity.
• Physical violence.
• Severe medical events, such as being in critical care.
• Severe accidents.
• Sexual assault.
• torture.
• War or conflict.

PTSD among battle veterans.

The nature of combat puts many people at risk of developing PTSD. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs:

• In a single year, 11% to 20% of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Global War on Terror) veterans suffered from PTSD.
• Within a year, 12% of Gulf War soldiers had post-traumatic stress disorder.
• It is estimated that 30% of Vietnam War veterans developed PTSD during their lifetime.

Other variables may lead to PTSD and other mental health issues in veterans. This includes:

• Where the conflict is being fought.
• the kind of adversary you're battling.
• What you do during the war.
• the politics surrounding the war.

In a 2006 study, researchers discovered that 53% of POWs satisfied the threshold for lifetime PTSD. Those stationed in cruel camps had higher rates of lifetime PTSD, which hovered around 84 percent.

All 262 participants had been POWs during World War II or the Korean War, and they had experienced a variety of traumas such as battle, capture, and imprisonment.

Risk factors for PTSD.

People of all ages, genders, and backgrounds can develop PTSD, however it is more common in specific groups.

In the United States, research indicates that Black people, Latinos, and Native Americans have greater incidences of PTSD than non-Latino whites. Women are twice as likely as males to suffer PTSD.

Women are more likely than men to have experienced childhood sexual abuse and assault. Men are more likely to be involved in physical violence, accidents, combat, disasters, or witness death or injury.

Other risk factors for PTSD include:

• Becoming a refugee.
• genetics.
• Poverty, homelessness, or sorrow can all add to the stress of trauma.
• Family and friends provide little help.
• During the traumatic occurrence, you may sustain bodily injuries or agony.
• Previous depression or anxiety.
• Repeated trauma.
• Spending time in foster care.
• Working in a high-risk environment, like as the military or as a police officer.

Why does PTSD develop?

Exposure to a traumatic experience can cause long-term alterations in stress-related brain regions, particularly the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex.

Fight, Flight, or Freeze

When a traumatic incident occurs, your body produces high-stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), and norepinephrine.

This is known as a "fight-or-flight" response, and it is your body's method of preparing you for an attack while also dulling your senses and reducing any potential pain. Researchers now understand that "freeze" is another potential response.

How the Body "Gets Stuck"

For the most part, extreme stress reactions are just transient. However, for many people, traumatic experiences can result in severe mental anguish and illness, including PTSD.

An estimated 50% to 60% of the general population has been exposed to at least one traumatic event, yet only about 8% develop PTSD.

For those suffering from PTSD, the body becomes "stuck" in a fight, flight, or freeze state. Your body continues to produce enormous stress chemicals, particularly when you meet new stressors.

Physiological alterations.

The PTSD brain develops an overstimulated amygdalaTrusted Source, which is in charge of recognizing risks and imbuing memories with emotion. An overactive amygdala perceives threats everywhere.

PTSD may also result in a smaller hippocampusTrusted Source, is a brain region that regulates stress hormones and is important for memory, learning, and fear conditioning.

During PTSD, an increase in glucocorticoids (stress hormones) causes hippocampal cell destruction. This reduces the hippocampus's ability to control your frightening memories.

This causes your brain to continue rehearsing scared memories rather than processing that the distressing event has ended. This fear-based system could explain why your flashbacks and dreams persist.

Are there genetic causes of PTSD?

Genetics appears to play an important influence in PTSD. Researchers discovered that heredity accounted for 5% to 20% of PTSD risk following a traumatic incident in a large genomic analysis of over 200,000 people (including 30,000 people living with PTSD).

The researchers also discovered that, like other mental health illnesses, PTSD is extremely polygenic. This indicates that it is linked to hundreds of genetic variants, each with a minor impact on the illness.

A total of six gene regions, known as "loci," were strongly associated with PTSD risk. Three of these loci were distinctive to ancestral heritage: two were European and one African.

The six loci also indicate that inflammatory and immunological pathways may play a role in PTSD, which is consistent with earlier findings.

The findings indicate that PTSD has a strong hereditary component, just like serious depression and other mental health problems.

Researchers also discovered significant genetic overlap between PTSD symptoms and those of other illnesses, including schizophrenia, depression, asthma, insomnia, and heart disease.

Finally, If you have PTSD, you are not alone, and there is assistance available. PTSD can be managed and the symptoms reduced with therapy and medication. There is always hope, no matter your genetics or "clinical presentation" (how it presents for you). Research has made significant progress in identifying the causes of PTSD. This insight has resulted in the creation of highly effective trauma-focused treatments. The most evidence-based treatments for PTSD are:

• Prolonged exposure therapy (PE).
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT).
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Start your adventure with our Find a Therapist tool. It may be beneficial to work with someone who has experience treating PTSD.