[Health in the 100-Year Life Era] Repeatedly Recurring Pain... 'Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder'

#Mr. C woke up gasping for air after wandering through a dark maze again today. Since being barely rescued from a building fire two months ago, he has been frequently experiencing nightmares. Additionally, ever since the accident, just thinking about tall buildings or crowded places makes him feel nauseous, and he has developed a habit of checking emergency exits every time. Besides this, he is startled by alarm or siren sounds and experiences trembling in his arms and legs. As a result, Mr. C has gradually stopped going out and meeting people, thinking, "I shouldn't have gone that day."

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can occur when a person experiences life-threatening or severely injurious events, or events that cause extreme fear and terror. In addition to natural disasters such as floods or typhoons, social disasters like fires, collapses, traffic accidents, assaults, and terrorism can also cause PTSD. It can also develop through repeated indirect exposure, such as witnessing these events or having them happen to close acquaintances. Generally, PTSD symptoms develop within three months after experiencing trauma. The lifetime prevalence rate in Korea is about 1.6%, which is relatively low compared to overseas, but recent large-scale disasters like the Itaewon tragedy have drawn significant attention to the condition.

The reason PTSD is so distressing is that nightmares or memories of the event continuously replay in the patient's mind, causing intense fear and physical reactions. The brain and bodily stress response systems of trauma survivors become abnormal, and the autonomic nervous system becomes overactive. This heightened sensitivity to the surrounding environment leads to difficulties in emotional regulation, such as anger or lethargy.

As with most illnesses, early treatment of PTSD is effective and requires professional care. Representative treatments include ‘exposure therapy,’ which repeatedly exposes patients to traumatic memories to help them become accustomed to the situation and reduce anxiety and avoidance responses; ‘cognitive therapy,’ which corrects distorted thoughts; and ‘cognitive-behavioral therapy,’ which includes stress reduction techniques. Additionally, specialized treatments such as ‘Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)’ use regular eye movements to reprocess trauma-related information and alleviate painful thoughts and emotions. In severe cases, antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are also used.

The most important aspect of PTSD treatment is to patiently wait and allow the patient to talk about the event at their own pace. Therefore, people around the patient should provide emotional support and a sense of stability, encouraging the patient to find ways to relax their stress. They should also help the patient avoid feelings of guilt or shame. Self-blame, stigma, or criticism from others can be major obstacles to treatment and recovery, so it is essential to give the patient enough time and space to accept what happened and heal without excessively suppressing or avoiding their emotions.

Furthermore, excessive exposure to horrific videos or photos related to disaster events in the media can cause ongoing stress responses such as anxiety, fear, anger, helplessness, palpitations, and cold sweats. Similarly, experiencing verbal abuse or conflicts in interpersonal relationships can lead to persistent stress responses after psychological trauma. In such cases, an adjustment disorder diagnosis may be considered rather than PTSD.

Professor Hye-Yeon Park, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.