Neurobiological Models in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Effects on Public Perception and Patient Care

ABSTRACT Concurrent with the many controversies that have surrounded the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there has been an increasing understanding of the neurobiology of trauma and PTSD. The result of this work has provided considerable evidence that trauma can change the brain and that individuals with PTSD are affected by a range of neurobiological alterations. These neurobiological findings are likely to have some impact on the controversies surrounding the field and significant implications for how the public views the trauma survivor as well as how survivors view themselves. After providing a brief primer on some of the most recent neurobiological findings, the clinical implications of such a “brain-based” model of PTSD are discussed.