New research is examining how people with post-traumatic stress disorder process traumatic memories

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

It’s the intrusive memories and flashbacks that make you feel as if the traumatic event is happening again. You may avoid certain: places, people, or activities, and avoid thoughts or feelings associated with the trauma. You find yourself constantly scanning your environment for potential threats, and this state of heightened alertness has contributed to feelings of exhaustion, and you can’t relax for your life.

Throughout your day-to-day life you experience heightened levels of anxiety and arousal; you feel easily startled, have difficulty sleeping, and feeling tense and on edge. At times you feel emotionally numb, detached, and unable to experience pleasure. Your friends and family tell you that lately you have been disconnected, different. You can’t help it, because you have these feelings of guilt, shame, and persistent negative beliefs about yourself, and the world. The most frustrating aspect of how you are feeling is that you are struggling to concentrate, and your memory is shot.

What you are experiencing is a mental health disorder, medically known as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This occurs in people who have experienced, or seen a traumatic event, series of events, or set of circumstances.  People usually attribute this disorder to soldiers, but if you have been sexually assaulted, physically assaulted, experienced a car accident, or natural disaster (tornado, earthquake, hurricane), lost a loved one suddenly, or work as a first responder, you might be suffering from PTSD and not even know it.

The American Psychiatric Association says PTSD may affect mental, physical, social, and/or spiritual well-being. The symptoms are generally grouped into four types; these include: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions. Symptoms usually vary from person to person, and include things like flashbacks, avoiding specific places or people, and hopelessness.

New research is examining how people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) process sad, non-traumatic memories differently to traumatic memories. People with PTSD experience intrusive, recurrent flashbacks of traumatic events that are often accompanied by high levels of anxiety and emotional distress.  When people with PTSD experience a flashback, they feel as though they’re experiencing the traumatic event again in the present moment, rather than thinking back on it like a typical memory. This may provide a biological explanation for why recalling traumatic memories can manifest as intrusive thoughts that are different from other negative recollections.

Before we go any further, let’s take a look at the function of the brain; sad, non-traumatic memories are processed in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, while the traumatic memories associated with PTSD activate a region above it known as the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Although both brain regions are involved in memory and emotional processing, the PCC is more focused on internally directed thought, such as daydreaming, or being aware of one’s thoughts and feelings. By comparison, the hippocampus is responsible for organizing and contextualizing memories.

“This brain region is critical for memory, if you have damage in the hippocampus you cannot form new memories,” co-senior study author Daniela Schiller, a professor of neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, told Live Science.

“For people with PTSD, recalling traumatic memories often displays as intrusions that differ profoundly from processing of ‘regular’ negative memories, yet until now, the neurobiological reasons for this qualitative difference have been poorly understood. Our data show that the brain does not treat traumatic memories as regular memories, or perhaps even as memories at all. We observed that brain regions known to be involved in memory are not activated when recalling a traumatic experience.”

“PTSD patients’ brains work differently when recalling traumatic experiences,” study co-author and Yale University clinical psychologist Ilan Harpaz-Rotem shared in a statement. “However, when presented with stories of their own traumatic experiences, brain activity was highly individualized, fragmented, and disorganized. They are not like memories at all.”

PTSD is a serious mental health condition, but effective treatments, such as therapy and, in some cases, medication, can help individuals manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of PTSD, it is crucial to seek professional help, and stop ignoring what you feel.