Essay on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Implications For...

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Implications For Brain Throughout the course of this semester we have examined numerous issues which have all had different implications for the brain = behavior argument. Some who have been skeptical of the validity of this idea have been swayed by observations that processes and behaviors they originally thought to have a cloudy neurobiological basis in fact have a sound biological and physiological underpinning. One such phenomenon which can help elucidate the ongoing brain = behavior debate is Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, or PTSD. Most people are familiar in some sense with the phenomenon of PTSD. This phenomenon has been renamed, reworked, and redefined numerous times over the past†¦show more content†¦It is the goal of this paper to demonstrate that the phenomenon of PTSD, despite the fact that its multiple emotional and psychosocial effects are constantly being debated, is soundly rooted in neurobiology, and that this aspect of PTSD lends support to the notion that brain = behavior. The general problem in the assessment of PTSD is that Traditional psychotherapy addresses the cognitive and emotional elements of trauma, but lacks techniques that work directly with the physiological elements, despite the fact that trauma profoundly affects the body and many symptoms of traumatized individuals are somatically based (2). Popular belief is that traumatic events affect an individual at the level of the I-function - that is, in the part of the brain responsible for cognition, emotion, and feeling. It is indeed true that the symptoms of PTSD can affect mood and the nature of interpersonal interaction. However, there is strong evidence that responses to trauma are rooted in neurobiological processes independent of the I-function, and have a somatic basis. As the above excerpt states, most treatment modalities focus on the non-somatic elements of PTSD, neglecting to recognize the important physiological effects that the disorder entails. Dianthe Lusk, a character in Pauline Hopkins novel Of One Blood, isShow MoreRelatedWhat Are Invisible Wounds Of War?1411 Words   |  6 Pagesthat ‘Three invisible signature wounds of the current war have emerged. They are PTSD, major depressive disorder and depressive symptoms, and Traumatic brain injury† (Pryce, et al, 2012, p.11). 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