Continuing with my discussion about PTSD, here is an interesting article that postulates low cortisol levels may predict PTSD risk. This article describes a study of the children of Holocaust survivors. The article states:

A major conclusion of these studies is that these children have a higher risk of developing PTSD than other people. In a study presented in the August 2000 The American Journal of Psychiatry, the research group discovered that adult children with at least one parent who is a Holocaust survivor have low cortisol levels. The discovery could mean that low cortisol levels may be predictive of the development of PTSD.

As many of you already know, cortisol is a hormone the body releases in response to stress. As stress increases, so should the cortisol level in your body. The reverse is also true. Studies of “our” children have shown them to have very high circulating levels of cortisol, even when they are theoretically in a “resting state.” (I blogged about it here.) Scientists believe the brain may become resistant to the effects of cortisol, requiring more and more to be released by the body.

So why would children of Holocaust survivors have lower-than-normal levels of cortisol? The article provides this explanation:

The VAMC research group theorizes that with PTSD, the brain may become hypersensitive to the effects of cortisol. The same area of the brain which may resist cortisol in people with chronic mood disorders, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, appears to work differently in people with PTSD or the risk of having PTSD.

Read the article to learn the results of this study. I mention it because it was one of a few articles that address the effects of chronic stress; it also peripherally addresses the impact living in a war zone has upon our (previously) healthy other children. It does seem to provide conflicting information to some extent, but I believe that only reinforces how complicated and unpredictable we human beings can be.

Nearly all of the information about recovering from PTSD operates on the assumption that the sufferer is no longer actively experiencing the trauma. Most studies examine folks after the fact … how are they coping? How successful are their lives?

This article offers some very eye-opening statistics on who gets PTSD.

Next I will share my thoughts about living in a war zone long term. Before I sign off for today, though, I want to direct you all to this article about a mom with a spot-on solution for a son's decision to mix automobiles and alcohol. I couldn't resist sharing it! This link will take you to comments from the public regarding this mom's handling of the situation.

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