Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Etiopathology, Presentation, Diagnostic Possibilities, and Concurrent Treatments

Dear Colleagues,

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating but subtle psychiatric problem. It frequently affects groups vulnerable to different types of abuse (e.g., children, women, and older adults), as well as individuals exposed to severe stressful events, such as the COVID‑19 pandemic, wars, natural and man-made disasters, etc. Individuals’ responses to trauma vary as a function of their resilience and internal coping mechanisms as well as sociodemographic, genetic, and cultural factors. For a substantial proportion of victims, PTSD is rarely reported, detected, or managed.

PTSD patients express stress-response activation and immune dysregulation for up to 20 years following trauma, which increases their vulnerability to physical and mental disorders. In fact, most PTSD patients experience sleep disturbances, anxiety and depressive symptoms, a low quality of life, dysfunctional coping behaviors (e.g., drug addiction), poor social networks and support systems, etc. Despite extensive research, the nature and presentation of PTSD remain unclear. While depressive and anxiety disorders are expressed by a homogenous set of symptoms, PTSD is expressed by a set of heterogenous symptoms, which overlap with other psychiatric comorbidities. Genetic studies suggest that PTSD may represent a unique subtype of depressive disorders. This complexity of PTSD presents us with a challenge that calls for further investigations of its diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities.

This Special Issue welcomes original research, short communications, reviews, and viewpoints, which aim to broaden our understanding of etiopathology, clinical diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD.

Dr. Amira Mohammed Ali
Guest Editor

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