When the trauma gets stuck like a tape

Post-traumatic stress disorder - special report
When 'the trauma gets stuck like a tape'
BY TAMMIE SMITH
The symptoms may show up years after a woman is sexually abused. Or months, even decades, after a soldier has left the battlefield. Exposed to life-threatening trauma, they suffer flashbacks, insomnia and fear so overwhelming at times that each day is a struggle. Mental-health experts call this chronic, sometimes delayed, response to traumatic experiences PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Some trauma seems to overwhelm the ability of the nervous system to undergo the natural healing process," said Deni Horton, a licensed clinical psychologist in Charlottesville who treats PTSD patients. "The trauma gets stuck like a tape, over and over." As thousands of men and women return from Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been increased attention to PTSD. Surveys suggest as many as a third or more of service members returning from the conflicts show signs of psychological problems. Often it is PTSD.

"We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg right now," said Dr. Antony Fernandez, acting chief of mental-health services at McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Richmond. Questions have been raised about whether the government is doing enough to help. But while PTSD is most often associated with military service, anyone who faces a life-threatening event can experience it. The disorder is widespread enough that millions in research dollars are going to government centers and universities to study treatment and prevention. New treatment options are being explored, including some at McGuire. And a report by the Institute of Medicine, due out this fall, is expected to shed more light on ways to treat the disorder.
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