Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Flashcards
If intrusion symptoms, avoidance of reminders of a traumatic event, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and marked alterations in arousal and reactivity persist for less than 1 month, the condition is known as ______________.
Acute stress disorder
If intrusion symptoms, avoidance of reminders of a traumatic event, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and marked alterations in arousal and reactivity persist for more than 1 month, the condition is known as ______________.
Posttraumatic stress disorder
____________ results from exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.
Trauma
____________ is the inability of an individual to prevent memories of a traumatic event from returning and becoming integrated into their daily life. This may manifest in distressing memories, recurrent stressful dreams, flashbacks, etc.
Intrusion
____________ is persistent evading and bypassing of stimuli associated with a traumatic event. This may manifest in avoiding people, places, conversations, activities, or subjects that have to do with said event.
Avoidance
___________ is the marked increase in arousal and reactivity associated with a traumatic event. This may be manifested in the form of reckless behavior, exaggerated startle response, sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, etc.
Hyperreactivity
_______________ and ____________ are common comorbidities associated with PTSD.
Depression and alcoholism
______________ occurs when a conditioned stimulus occurs repeatedly without its associated unconditioned stimulus, leading to loss of the conditioned response.
Extinction
__________ therapy works to bring about extinction of conditioned responses.
Exposure
PTSD is often associated with dysfunction of the _______________ cortex and ______________ of the limbic system.
- Medial prefrontal cortex
- Amygdala
The ____________ is the instinctual fear center of the brain. It is responsible for the acquisition and expression of fear conditioning.
Amygdala
Studies show (increased/decreased) amygdala activity in PTSD.
Increased
The ________________ provides the top-down, prefrontal control over the amygdala.
Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
A (hyperactive/hypoactive) mPFC leads to higher autonomic arousal and exaggerated responses due to loss of inhibition of the amygdala.
Hypoactive
The amygdala projects to the __________ and __________ in order to elicit autonomic and behavioral reactions to fear.
Locus ceruleus and hypothalamus
_____________ is the neurotransmitter implicated in the startle response and fear reaction.
Norepinephrine
The _____________ of the limbic system is involved in inhibiting stressful stimuli to end the fear response.
Hippocampus
A (large/small) hippocampus is considered a risk factor of PTSD development.
Small hippocampus
The coordinated response to stress is the release of __________ from the adrenal gland.
Cortisol
Chronic PTSD is associated with (increased/decreased) levels of norepinephrine and (hyporeactivity/hyperreactivity) of α2 adrenergic receptors.
- Increased levels of norepinephrine
- Hyperreactivity of α2 receptors
(T/F) Low cortisol release by the body in response to stressful stimuli has little to no effect on adrenergic activation.
False. Low cortisol allows for persistent adrenergic activation by norepinephrine.
What are the treatments recommended for PTSD?
-
Psychotherapy
- CBT
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy (Gold Standard)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
- CBT
-
Pharmacotherapy
- SSRIs (sertraline and paroxetine FDA approved)
- Venlafaxine
- Prazosin (α1 antagonist) - For sleep and nightmares mainly
Benzodiazepines (are/are not) effective in the course of treatment for PTSD.
Are not
