Somatic Manifestations in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The article provides an overview of modern foreign studies aimed at identifying somatic correlates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in various categories of the population. It has been shown that post-traumatic stress disorder, in the vast majority of cases, is associated with various psychosomatic and somatic symptoms. Some researchers have put forward a hypothesis about a hereditary predisposition to the development of PTSD during extreme psychotraumatization (epigenetic approach): premorbid characteristics of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system can determine the body's response to extreme psychotraumatic effects. The largest number of studies have revealed the relationship of post-traumatic stress disorder with such somatic / psychosomatic types of pathology as cardiovascular diseases, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders, immune system dysfunction, neurological and pseudoneurological disorders. The description of the mechanisms of comorbidity of PTSD and somatic dysfunctions proposed by the authors is largely contradictory and does not, to date, clarify the cause-and-effect relationships in the formation of PTSD and somatic manifestations.

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