Chattanooga: Stress syndrome, suicide physiologically linked

It’s not as easy to spot post-traumatic stress syndrome as it is shrapnel scars and missing limbs. But the internal war wound is still a physical injury like the others, experts say.

“We know that there are chemical changes (in the brain) when we experience a traumatic event,” said Dr. Richard Mauroner, a Chattanooga-based adult psychiatrist. “We have some evidence of the neuroanatomy actually changing.”

The body responds to stressful events through the “fight or flight” response, in which the release of the chemical noradrenaline throughout the body produces an increased heart rate and blood pressure, Dr. Mauroner said. Over extended periods of stress in combat, the body becomes hyperaroused, he explained.

“What happens when people have PTSD is they have a certain amount of detachment and have difficulty feeling close to people, but at the same time they also have hyperarousal where they have an exaggerated startle response,” Dr. Mauroner said.

“When they enter a new environment, they are scanning the environment for potential danger,” he continued. “They can’t really concentrate, and sometimes they have trouble sleeping and can be more prone to have emotional outbursts. All of this is related to that excess (brain chemical) activity.”

Over time, this change in chemistry can actually damage the synapses between nerve cells, which in turn affects the transfer of serotonin — a neurotransmitter that can influence mood and social behavior, said Michael Bearden, counseling team leader at the Chattanooga Vet Center.

Often, the same drugs used to treat depression are also effective treatments for PTSD, Mr. Bearden said.

Talk therapy can be enough to reverse the chemical reactions in many cases because it can teach patients how to come to terms with their stressors better, according to Dr. Mauroner.

But it’s often hard to diagnose exactly what the problem is if service members don’t come forward and share information about their condition, said David Fenell, a former Army reservist who is now professor and chairman of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ Department of Counseling and Human Services.

“When you’re trained in the military, you’re trained to put pain, stress and other things aside and act like you’re all right when, in reality, at a deeper psychological level, you’re not doing well,” Dr. Fenell said.

Those who don’t get help as soon as possible are the ones most at risk for suicide, according to Mr. Bearden.

“When they don’t have the ability to deal with day-to-day life, they feel alienated, even from their own family,” he said. “There’s a loss of sense of love, a loss of sense of joy and a loss of future hopes and dreams. Everything becomes black and white; on or off; right or wrong. Since they have no future, and nothing’s working out, they (think they) might as well commit suicide.”