PTSD – Definition

Transcript

In our common speech today, we often use the term and kind of throw it about, post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. This is actually now being changed a little bit in the medical literature to post traumatic stress because it’s kind of an increased reaction that the body normally has when it feels threatened. People who develop post-traumatic stress disorder are those who have been experiencing a perceived threat, either a severe threat of bodily harm or threat of all of those around them. And we often see this in combat, because of course it is, you know, a life or death situation, but also during the course of sexual assault where you may also feel that way, or even in a fight, and natural disasters such as tornadoes. And this massive hurricane season that we’ve had this year have also made individuals feel as though their lives are threatened. The brain kind of remembers these particular conditions and develops a whole group of chemicals that keep you kind of playing this over and over in your mind. And when that happens, that’s post-traumatic stress disorder.