Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): The Impact On The Brain

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Below we cover its symptoms, how it is diagnosed, its key characteristics, and what research shows about how it affects the brain.

Symptoms And Diagnostic Criteria

PTSD has specific symptoms that can significantly affect daily life:

1. Intrusive thoughts: unwanted memories, flashbacks, or nightmares about the event.
2. Avoidance: staying away from people, places, or situations that are reminders of the trauma.
3. Negative changes in thoughts and mood: feeling detached, difficulty feeling positive emotions, and persistent negative thoughts.
4. Changes in physical and emotional reactions: being easily startled, hypervigilance, trouble sleeping, and angry outbursts.

A diagnosis requires symptoms that last more than a month and cause significant distress or problems in daily functioning.

Key Characteristics

PTSD is defined by its origin: it develops after exposure to a traumatic event. Its key characteristics include:

1. Hyperarousal: the brain's alarm system becomes overly sensitive, leaving people feeling constantly on edge.
2. Memory issues: the way memories are processed and stored can be affected, leading to fragmented or intrusive memories.
3. Emotional regulation difficulties: managing emotions can become a daily struggle.

How PTS Becomes PTSD In The Brain

Post-traumatic stress (PTS) is a normal reaction to trauma. When symptoms persist or worsen, they can develop into PTSD. Research associates PTSD with several changes in the brain:

1. Amygdala hyperactivity: research associates PTSD with increased activity in the amygdala, the brain's fear center, which can heighten fear responses.
2. Hippocampus changes: research associates PTSD with smaller hippocampal volume, which may affect how traumatic memories are stored and recalled.
3. Prefrontal cortex changes: reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, the brain's "thinking center," can make it harder to regulate emotions and process memories.
4. Altered stress response: changes in stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine affect how the body responds to stress.

Together, these changes can keep the trauma response "stuck," which helps sustain PTSD symptoms.

Treatment And Support

PTSD can significantly affect your life, and evidence-based treatment options are available, including trauma-focused therapy and medication. Some research associates certain treatments with changes in hippocampal volume.

Reaching out to a mental health professional is an important step. With treatment and support, many people learn to manage their symptoms and live a fuller life.

How Mind Spa Treats PTSD

Mind Spa builds a plan around your history and symptoms, coordinated by one team. Options may include:

• Trauma-informed talk therapy, including the Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM®) and somatic approaches
• Medication management with a psychiatric provider
• Ketamine infusion therapy, used off-label for PTSD
• TMS, used off-label for PTSD
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, used off-label and studied for people with trauma and blast exposure

Who Provides Your Care

• Dr. Joseph Horvath, DO, board-certified psychiatrist
• Dr. John Drozd, PhD, ABMP, clinical psychologist
• Dr. Ron Schwenkler, PsyD, LPC, licensed professional counselor
• Nick Anderson, LPC, licensed professional counselor
• Marlen Lukatsky, PMHNP, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner
• Kylie Hansen, PMHNP, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner

Meet the full team on our about page.

Important Information

Mind Spa uses the Apollo TMS Therapy System, which is FDA-cleared for major depressive disorder and OCD. TMS for PTSD is off-label. IV ketamine and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are used off-label for PTSD and are not FDA-approved for this use. The only FDA-approved ketamine-based treatment for depression is esketamine (Spravato) nasal spray. Individual results vary and are not guaranteed.

Mind Spa is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, call or text 988. Veterans can dial 988 and press 1.

Mind Spa is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, at 5340 S. Quebec St., Suite 230S, Greenwood Village, CO 80111. Call 303-327-0350 or complete the new patient paperwork to get started.

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Keep reading

• Face Your Trauma to Free Yourself: The Only Way Out Is Through
• How Do You Regulate Your Nervous System After Trauma?
• How the Brain Decides What “Sticks”: A Multi-Stage Model of Long-Term Memory and the Thalamus as a Gatekeeper