Accidents and Injuries

Post-traumatic stress disorder, also referred to as PTSD, is a psychological or mental health condition that develops in people who have experienced a traumatic, horrifying event. PTSD is primarily associated with soldiers returning from combat, although, this emotional ailment is not limited to military combat situations. As a matter of fact, automobile accidents are one of the leading causes of post-traumatic stress disorder nationwide.

For most people involved in an auto collision, the feelings of shock and fear may be difficult to deal with at first, but with time, patience, and plenty of self-care, their emotional health will generally restore on its own. But, if the symptoms worsen or they last for months or even years without improvement and these begin to interfere with the individual’s everyday functioning, they could have developed PTSD.

The most difficult feature about identifying PTSD, and therefore treating it, involves the numerous, different ways the condition may arise for each person. While several people can experience the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder as bad dreams or nightmares, other can experience them as anxiety in crowded places.

The new study found that approximately 25.7% of individuals with whiplash injuries also experienced post traumatic stress disorder which adversely influenced their physical symptoms. Prior studies had suggested that PTSD and hypersensitivity to pain could ultimately increase the risk for an individual to develop chronic whiplash symptoms.

A study conducted by Ashley Pedler and Michele Sterling of the University of Queensland in Australia was utilized to determine whether individuals with whiplash and hypersensitivity could be categorized according to their symptoms. The study involved 331 patients who had experienced a whiplash injury approximately within 3 months from the automobile accident. Each patient was evaluated for neck pain, disability, cervical range of motion, mental health, and PTSD as well as hypersensitivity.