If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health emergency or crisis, please contact campus security at (304) 367-4357, dial 911, or go to the nearest emergency room for immediate help.
According to the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), 7.8% of Americans will experience PTSD in their lifetime. Women are twice as likely to experience PTSD as men. Only a small portion of people who experience a traumatic event in their lives go on to develop PTSD. The majority of people who develop PTSD experience multiple traumatic events – past traumatic events increase the likelihood of developing PTSD.
Traumatic events are generally defined as concrete events that include a real or perceived threat to one’s own or another’s bodily safety. Our understanding of PTSD has greatly increased in the over the past years and we continue to learn more about the neuro-psychological mechanisms at work.Watch a video explaining the brain model of PTSD.
PTSD is a treatable condition, although many of the traditional approaches (such as talk-therapy) may not be as effective as methods that are specifically designed to re-establish the links between the fear center, the rational thinking center, and the memory center of the brain. Ask your therapist if they are specialized in trauma treatment or if they can refer you to a specialist.
