Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has plagued society over many years. Whether it be caused by aggravated crimes, traumatic abuse, or military violence, the issue of PTSD is not dissipating.
The most prevalent instance of PTSD today is the ongoing war in Ukraine. Soldiers are fighting to retain their borders and suffering brutal carnage in the process. Members of the Ukrainian military have been stepping forward to bring attention to the mental struggles they are collectively facing. While discussing these issues with AP News, the topics of night terrors, anxiety, and anger riddled the conversation (Leicester, 2022). Treatments for those suffering from PTSD were framed as helpful in some ways, but barbaric in others. Descriptions of treatment ranged from mindfulness exercises and yoga to tranquilization and psychiatric medication. It seems, from the recipients, that the variability of ailments displays a lack of clear direction.
While the topics of war-plagued militaries typically revolve around mental health, the question of veterans’ physical health due to this stress disorder has begun to enter the conversation. In a recently published research article, Hawn et al. (2022) found that there may be a biological component of PTSD that can impact health. As noted in the article, the genetic impact of PTSD can cause accelerated aging. From this, the impact of PTSD can lead to early death not only from external factors (suicide, substance abuse, etc.), but from internal factors as well. With this advanced aging in mind, veterans are being subjected to an even greater amount of negative effects from the battlefield. New research and treatments for those afflicted will not only aid the psyche, but the body as well.
In the ever-growing field of memory research, Grella et al. (2022) described methods of memory reconsolidation by which fear conditioning can be disrupted. In the experiment, mouse models were artificially manipulated via optogenetics to reactivate neurons in the dorsal dentate gyrus (dDG) after a traumatic event. The result of the study’s successful reconsolidation allowed for a quicker loss of the conditioned fear engram when paired with a positive stimulus. Although this finding cannot be applied to humans just yet (due to invasive techniques), implications can be translated to the world of PTSD by providing hope for future research. By demonstrating positive results of reconsolidation targeting the dDG, researchers focused on aiding those suffering from PTSD may be inclined to broaden their scope of manipulation.
Bringing this research back to the matter at hand, PTSD does not solely negatively affect the mental, but also the physical. As the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, the number of military members experiencing trauma is not dwindling. Research on ways to better treat and understand this serious disorder may not only save thousands of lives abroad, but also help those who experience PTSD in our country as well.
Works Cited:
Grella, S.L., Fortin, A.H., Ruesch, E. et al. Reactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidation to disrupt fear. Nat Commun 13, 4733 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32246-8
Hawn, S.E., Zhao, X., Sullivan, D.R. et al. For whom the bell tolls: psychopathological and neurobiological correlates of a DNA methylation index of time-to-death. Transl Psychiatry 12, 406 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02164-w
Leicester, J. (2022, December 1). 'Do something:' Ukraine works to heal soldiers' mental scars. AP NEWS. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-health-europe-veterans-affairs-811a986e0e9a202d8eb32b16f6730e4c
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