Masters of Health Magazine December 2019 | Page 34

Men are vulnerable to developing post-traumatic stress disorder in other ways. Specifically, the hippocampus—the part of the brain that forms memories—decreases in volume in men with PTSD.

The decrease is more pronounced in men than in women. This means that women with PTSD have less memory loss and cognitive impairment as a result of trauma than men do.

Men also appear to have a more sensitive hyperarousal system. This means they’re more likely to experience symptoms like paranoia and impulsivity. https://successtms.com/blog/ptsd-symptoms-in-women-vs-men

Biological Differences

PTSD Symptoms in Men and Women:

Men and women can and do experience the same PTSD symptoms. Nevertheless, specific symptoms are more common among women versus men and vice versa. For example, women are more likely to feel edgy, cut-off or detached from the feelings associated with the trauma, and they also tend to avoid things that remind them of the trauma.

Men tend to feel angry and experience angry outbursts more often than women. Women with PTSD are more likely to feel depressed and anxious, while men with PTSD are more likely to have problems with alcohol or drugs. Both women and men who experience PTSD may develop physical health problems.

PTSD Symptoms in Men versus Women:

Women are more likely to experience:

Emotional numbness

Avoidance symptoms

Mood and anxiety disorders

Shame and self-blame

Men are more likely to experience:

Irritability

Impulsivity

Substance use disorders

Paranoia

Exaggerated startle response

Treatment Responses to PTSD:

Gender-role differences play a role in PTSD treatment outcomes. First, women tend to seek social support and help more frequently than do men. And, women also tend to be more comfortable speaking about their emotions, which may explain why women have been shown to benefit more from psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD.

Men more commonly resort to substance use to quell their PTSD symptoms. Angry outbursts are another common form of male “coping.”

Research on treatments for PTSD do not focus on which treatments are more effective based on sex or gender.

Mainstream treatments include CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy), Drugs, EMDR (Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing) and, the new kid on the block: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Research is unclear if TMS is effective in treating PTSD:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25473719.

Perhaps because none of the treatments to date have been particularly effective in resolving PTSD, another experimental treatment called Deep Brain Stimulation has appeared on the scene. This surgical procedure involves stimulation of the amygdala, ventral striatum, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex.

The idea of this procedure is to surgically turn-off the HPA-Axis dysfunction that has caused the brain and body of PTSD sufferers to get stuck in overdrive.