Recently I came across an article in
Science Daily on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Serotonin System Influences Vulnerability and Treatment. One factor that appears to contribute to the heritable vulnerability to PTSD is a variation in the gene that codes for the serotonin transporter, also known as the serotonin uptake site. Serotonin is one of the four major neurotransmitters that singly or in combination are targeted by pharmacology research.
Prozac was one of the early drugs to prevent serotonin re-uptake by the body, thus disallowing the benefit of the 'calming' chemical your body has produced.
Listed among anxiety disorders, PTSD may or may not be more prevalent than in the past, but it is now more easily diagnosed. Research has found brain changes in severe cases of long term abuse.
- Approximately 7.7 million American adults age 18 and older, or about 3.5 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have PTSD.1, 2
- PTSD can develop at any age, including childhood, but research shows that the median age of onset is 23 years.5
- About 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war.13 The disorder also frequently occurs after violent personal assaults such as rape, mugging, or domestic violence; terrorism; natural or human-caused disasters; and accidents.
A study now over a year old shows the work being done to understand the brain changes.
Click here. Telling people not to be upset over things does not prevent their specific reactions. While people need to be educated on these matters to prevent further suffering in those who have already developed the condition due to past suffering, many people seem loathe to accept reality, research results, and scientific proof. (think of the deniers who refuse to accept there was a Holocaust in which Jews were gassed to death, the birthers who will not accept the irrefutable proof placed before them, and those who still believe that Elvis Presley is alive.
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