A Primer Of Closed Head Injury Sequelae In Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

By definition, an individual diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been exposed to a serious threat of physical harm that engenders concomitant feelings of fear, helplessness, or horror (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). According to the current diagnostic taxonomy, PTSD may develop when the person witnesses harm against someone else or learns of harm occurring to an intimate other. Yet, all too often, PTSD is associated with the direct experience of physical injury through assault, accident, or other violence. As such, individuals with PTSD are at increased risk of having sustained a head injury, particularly during the traumatic events that elicited the PTSD symptoms (Knight, 1996). Consistent with this assertion, there are indications that individuals who sustain a head injury are increasingly likely to develop subsequent PTSD (Bryant & Harvey, 1998; Chemtob et al., 1998), with the prevalence of PTSD in this population estimated to be as high as 30% (Bryant & Harvey, 1996). Moreover, among people with PTSD, those who have sustained head injuries are apt to have more severe symptoms than those who have not (Chemtob et al., 1998).