PTSD: Beyond a Mental Illness
Why PTSD Should be Labeled a Physical Illness
Trauma changes you, like it literally alters your DNA, damages your mental health, and takes a toll on your quality of living. This is why we heal. This is why we detatch and go into solitude. -Turtle Breeze
In the wake of a recent disastrous round of medical testing, I was left with a burning question:
Why isn’t PTSD considered a physical illness?
After seeing pictures of the inflammation in my stomach and esophagus, I walked away from my follow-up appointment with no answers as to why my body was plagued with inflammation, joint pain, and digestive issues.
The inflammation is real; I saw it. The nurses commented that it must be painful. (it is) Yet, they can’t pinpoint the source. I was given dietary restrictions in the hopes of seeing an improvement and sent along my way.
While I have a few avenues of medical testing to follow up with, the reality that my physical sickness may begin and end with PTSD really stuck in my mind. It seems brutally unfair that my physical pain is dismissed because of my mental illness.
I have been living with the effects of PTSD for around three years, and I can pinpoint the exact moment when I went from being emotionally abused and traumatized to having PTSD. After that moment, there was no relief from the stress. It just piled on and on as I stumbled around, trying to figure out what my new normal looked like.
I learned to deal with the nightmares, flashbacks, and constant fear and to soothe my trauma responses, but even then, the stress didn’t end, and it began to affect my physical health.
“Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, series of events or set of circumstances. An individual may experience this as emotionally or physically harmful or life-threatening and may affect mental, physical, social, and/or spiritual well-being. Examples include natural disasters, serious accidents, terrorist acts, war/combat, rape/sexual assault, historical trauma, intimate partner violence and bullying,” -psychiatry.org
PTSD is defined as a mental disorder, and it certainly comes with a whole host of mental symptoms, such as:
- Reliving the trauma: memories, flashbacks, or nightmares that make you feel like you are reliving the event. When this occurs, it feels like it is happening to you all over again. Your mind cannot tell the difference between the past and the present.
- Avoidance: Avoiding people, places, activities, or anything that reminds you of your trauma. Occasionally, this can show up in surprising ways, such as a song you heard during the time of your trauma or a smell that triggers memories.
- Memory issues: Trouble remembering traumatic events is a common issue. You may have periods of time where you remember every detail clearly, and other times, you find yourself completely unable to remember an event. Both are normal and in the case of memory loss, it’s a defense mechanism in your mind. Some memories are better left uncovered.
- Heightened reactions: Strong negative reactions to everyday things like loud noises or accidental touches. Exaggerated startle responses are typical for people with PTSD, even if loud noises weren’t part of your trauma, because your nervous system is wired for survival and protection.
- Mood changes: Strong negative emotions like fear, anger, guilt, or shame. It can also become difficult to feel positive emotions as positive feelings begin to feel unsafe. Your mind has been re-wired for self-protection, and sometimes positive things feel like a threat because it’s outside of your survival zone.
- Deep feelings of self-blame: Let me be clear. Your trauma was not your fault. Period. However, it is common for survivors to feel as if they were somehow to blame for their trauma.
- Social withdrawal: Feeling cut off from others or staying away from people in general. Social isolation is common among PTSD survivors and is a complex issue. On the one hand, being alone feels safe. On the other, it can highlight our feelings of being alone or that we are unworthy of being around “healthy” people.
- Sleep disturbances: Insomnia, nocturnal panic attacks, or sleep terrors. Lack of sleep can often make all of the above issues feel so much worse, but the ability to get a good night's sleep is challenging for people with PTSD.
The mental effects of having PTSD are very real, but the effects aren’t only in our minds. There are often physical effects that are often left unaddressed or, as I experienced, dismissed.
PTSD causes literal brain damage. PTSD is associated with structural changes to our brains. Our brains come with built-in alarm systems that exist to help keep us safe. However, when you have PTSD, your brain alarm system triggers easily. Certain parts of the brain, the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the hippocampus specifically, tend to take over the brain function, leaving you in a constant state of high alert. These changes are linked to the stress response and can affect memory, emotional regulation, and fear responses, clearly showing that PTSD has a very tangible effect on the brain.
There is a very real physical alteration to the brains of people with PTSD, but the physical effects of PTSD go beyond the brain damage.
These symptoms can include:
- Cardiovascular problems: Increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and dizziness
- Prolonged high cortisol: can cause physical damage to bodily systems by causing chronic widespread inflammation
- Widespread pain: Headaches, back pain, joint pain, and chronic pain
- Tummy troubles: Nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, diarrhea, constipation, and bloating
- Breathing trouble: Trouble breathing and rapid breathing
- Other: Sweating, trembling, muscle tension, fatigue, and disturbed sleep
PTSD can also be linked to chronic physical problems, such as obesity, heart disease, an increased likelihood of developing an autoimmune condition, and decreased life expectancy. Other symptoms like hyperarousal, sleep disturbances, and chronic fatigue can lead to very real physical issues that can impact a survivor's overall well-being.
I have often found myself in the position of wondering which of my symptoms are real and what’s just in my head. The truth of the matter is they’re all real. The origin may be from emotional pain, but the physical manifestations of that pain are very, very real.
If the pain of those of us with a PTSD diagnosis is real, and scientific studies have linked physical health issues to post-traumatic stress disorder, why is it still considered a mental illness?
There is enough evidence to show that between the neurological changes, stress responses, chronic inflammation, and the impact a PTSD survivor has on their daily cognitive functioning, PTSD should be classified as more than a mental illness. It’s a physical injury resulting from psychological trauma. The correlation between PTSD and physical illness is currently being studied on a deeper level, but more work is needed to fully understand the relationship between mental and physical health in people with PTSD.
If you have struggled to receive a diagnosis or suffer the physical consequences of PTSD, please comment below with your experiences. It’s my hope that by spreading awareness of the physical issues that come with a mental diagnosis, we can change the conversation and receive the necessary medical care.
**Please note: I am not a mental health professional. I am writing based on my own experiences with emotional abuse. If you are experiencing abuse and need professional help, please seek out a trauma-informed therapist**
