PTSD likely the result of an overtaxed brain
Stress for Success
August 16, 2011


Those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, experience many symptoms: flashbacks, nightmares, angry outbursts, depression, unemployment, homelessness, nightmares and panic attacks; all normal reactions to trauma, especially repetitive trauma.

Thanks to the recent explosion in brain research a greater understanding of PTSD is emerging along with promising treatments giving hope to its sufferers, whether military veterans, childhood abuse or violent crime survivors.

To better appreciate PTSD, it’s important to understand how the brain and body handle threats. We’ll look at this from a soldier’s point of view.

Pamela Wolf, author of “Finding Balance after the War Zone,” says a soldier’s neurological stress and survival systems keep him alert to protect him. But these systems were never meant to stay on high alert for weeks or months on end. Humans were designed to handle short-term stress, followed by periods of rest that allow our stress systems to return to balance. This balance of stress and rest protects us from illness, disease development and PTSD.

Heightened alertness for extended periods of time, whether from military redeployments or repetitive childhood abuse, inhibits the higher brain regions from regulating the amygdala, the primitive brain structure responsible for forming and storing memories associated with emotion. It’s the most powerful player in regulating stress reactions and protecting us from threats.

The amygdala is like your survival system’s guard dog. It’s always looking for threats, and when it perceives one it attacks first and asks questions later. When the amygdala is on high alert for months and months, it creates PTSD symptoms in some.

The amygdala stores unconscious pieces of memories like pictures, sounds, scents and feelings. When the brain’s relay system, the thalamus, sends the amygdala signals that remind it of past threats, even if these indicators are very different from earlier threats, the amygdala goes on the defense by bringing up those memories as if they were happening now, setting off the chemical fight/flight/freeze response.

Our bodies always strive for balance even with significant stress through allostasis— the process of achieving stability through physiological or behavioral change. It’s similar to extending out your arms leaning from side to side when trying to balance walking on a narrow plank.

The autonomic nervous system, which controls metabolism, heart rate, breathing, etc., strives for balance through its two “arms” that rise and fall in relation to the other:
· Sympathetic nervous system (SNS): speeds up our stress response processes like heart rate, breathing, metabolism, muscle tightening, energy, etc., to fight or flee from our temporary stress;
· Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS): attempts to keep us safe when we are helpless, and quiets down the SNS to return to physical balance;

These natural, automatic stress and survival systems protect us from threat, but when imbalanced from being on high alert too long can also cause great distress.

The return to physiological balance is what we need to do to protect ourselves from the ravages of stress. For suffers of PTSD, there are treatments that can help restore this healthier balance; more on this next week.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., is an international speaker and a Stress and Wellness Coach. Order her book, Let Your Body Win: Stress Management Plain & Simple, at http://www.letyourbodywin.com/bookstore.html. Email her to request she speak to your organization at jferg8@aol.com.