anthony
Founder
PTSD myths are abundant, with those who have PTSD and those who do not. The media quite often perpetuates many a myth with their limit news story view, allowing people to form narrow opinions from limited information, as though it is complete.
So how many myths can you cite, with some evidence to substantiate your claim?
Myth #1 - PTSD only affects military.
Military is the smallest number of PTSD affected. Geographic location depends on who is majority affected. If you view USA demographics, then sexual assault, crime and childhood abuse are the largest causes of PTSD. If you view Denmark and Iceland studies, natural disaster and accidents were the largest cause of PTSD. This continues to change depending on which country you review. If interested, I have attached a good meta-analysis on resilience to PTSD, which outlines a lot of trauma types based on geography and specific events.
Myth #2 - Symptoms appear immediately after the trauma.
Our own poll clearly demonstrates the majority of people have no symptoms for 12 months or longer. The NIMH agree with our polls second most prevalent response, "Symptoms usually begin within 3 months of the incident but occasionally emerge years afterward."
Myth #3 - PTSD is all in your head.
Well, PTSD is actually all in your head, being a mental health disorder, just not in the sarcastic exclusionary meaning that you're making it all up. PTSD is very real, can be measured via specific imaging devices and is proven beyond a doubt as a real outcome to abnormally traumatic events.
A 2007 meta analysis of neuroimaging anxiety disorders concluded, "Patients with any of the three disorders consistently showed greater activity than matched comparison subjects in the amygdala and insula, structures linked to negative emotional responses."
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Whilst I could personally keep going with this, I will give a few more and see if others can find data to support the below myths, and what other myths people can conclude and evidence.
So how many myths can you cite, with some evidence to substantiate your claim?
Myth #1 - PTSD only affects military.
Military is the smallest number of PTSD affected. Geographic location depends on who is majority affected. If you view USA demographics, then sexual assault, crime and childhood abuse are the largest causes of PTSD. If you view Denmark and Iceland studies, natural disaster and accidents were the largest cause of PTSD. This continues to change depending on which country you review. If interested, I have attached a good meta-analysis on resilience to PTSD, which outlines a lot of trauma types based on geography and specific events.
Myth #2 - Symptoms appear immediately after the trauma.
Our own poll clearly demonstrates the majority of people have no symptoms for 12 months or longer. The NIMH agree with our polls second most prevalent response, "Symptoms usually begin within 3 months of the incident but occasionally emerge years afterward."
Myth #3 - PTSD is all in your head.
Well, PTSD is actually all in your head, being a mental health disorder, just not in the sarcastic exclusionary meaning that you're making it all up. PTSD is very real, can be measured via specific imaging devices and is proven beyond a doubt as a real outcome to abnormally traumatic events.
A 2007 meta analysis of neuroimaging anxiety disorders concluded, "Patients with any of the three disorders consistently showed greater activity than matched comparison subjects in the amygdala and insula, structures linked to negative emotional responses."
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Whilst I could personally keep going with this, I will give a few more and see if others can find data to support the below myths, and what other myths people can conclude and evidence.
- You did something wrong to get PTSD.
Everyone has symptoms of PTSD.- PTSD isn't treatable.
PTSD causes violent behaviour.- PTSD affects only the weak.
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