By: Shrika Lakshmi Vulligaddala
What is PTSD ?
PTSD is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by debilitating stress and anxiety in response to a specific trauma.
People with PTSD may relive the trauma in painful recollections, flashbacks, or recurrent dreams or nightmares; avoid activities or places that recall the traumatic event; or experience physiological arousal, leading to symptoms such as an exaggerated startle response, disturbed sleep, difficulty in concentrating or remembering, and guilt about surviving the trauma when others did not.
Why do Women experience it more ?
More than half of all women will be exposed to at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, according to the National Center for PTSD. Those traumatic experiences have been linked to a variety of negative mental health consequences, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The lifetime prevalence of PTSD for women is 10% to 12%, compared to 5% to 6% for men.
This disparity is in part due to the fact that women and men experience different types of trauma and at different times in their lives, according to the study.
Women, for example, are typically exposed to more interpersonal and high-impact trauma, such as sexual assault, than men, and at a younger age. Sexual assault carries one of the highest risks for PTSD, according to research. In addition, trauma early in life often has a greater impact, particularly when it involves multiple traumatic events. Traumatic stress affects different areas of the brains of boys and girls at different ages, and can interfere with neurobiological development and personality. Chronic fear, for example, whether in response to actual or anticipated threat, can lead to repeated activation of the physiological stress response system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, altering the regulation of glucocorticoids such as cortisol.
What types of trauma do women typically experience?
Global estimates by the World Health Organization suggest one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.
Women are also more likely than men to be survivors of child sexual abuse, with 25% of girls experiencing this form of abuse during childhood. Sexual abuse is the most common form of trauma for women.
Does PTSD look different in women?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found women with PTSD may be more likely than men with PTSD to:
Be easily startled;
Have more trouble feeling emotions or feel numb;
Avoid things that remind them of the trauma;
Feel depressed and anxious.
They also note women usually have PTSD symptoms longer than men (on average, 4 years versus 1 year) before diagnosis and treatment.
Treatment for PTSD
Treatment may include a combination of medications and behavioral therapies which have been proven effective on those with PTSD. And it goes without saying that each PTSD treatment and management plan should be tailored to meet an individual's specific needs since everyone is impacted differently.
EMDR
EMDR, a therapeutic approach used to treat individuals with PTSD and other trauma-related conditions. Developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro, it has since gained widespread recognition and acceptance as an effective treatment for trauma.
EMDR is based on the idea that traumatic memories are stored differently in the brain than non-traumatic memories. Research has also suggested that EMDR can be more effective and
more efficient than traditional talk therapies for trauma-related conditions. It has also been shown to be effective with a variety of populations, including children, military veterans, and survivors of sexual abuse.
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