Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD develops after trauma and may involve intrusive memories, hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbing, or avoidance and which persists for months or years. The brain remains in survival mode even when danger has passed. Trauma may be caused by a single or a repeated series of unsafe events that feel unssafe or are life-threatened. Examples include incidents involving violence, abuse, accidents, disasters, war, or medical emergencies.
Did you know?
PTSD involves overactivation of the Salience Network (which helps control attention) and impaired regulation from the Frontoparietal Control Network (involved in cognitive control), along with altered memory processing within Default Mode subnetworks (involved in inward reflection and social processes). Differing pre-existing brain function in each individual can affect how PTSD alters the brain.
So what does this mean?
PTSD symptoms persist because brain networks originally intended to protect you are now misfiring—not because someone “can’t let go.” This explains why getting the right type of medication and therapy is so important in PTSD.