Understanding relationships among trauma, post-tramatic stress disorder, and health outcomes

Since Selye first published his classic work, The Stress of Life, a great deal of research has investigated the relationship between stress and physical health. Most of this research has focused on stressors such as divorce, bereavement, and job loss, but some has examined the health effects associated with extreme stressors, including war, sexual victimization, disasters, and serious accidents. The evidence presented here shows that poor physical health should be recognized, along with mental health problems and impaired psychosocial functioning, as an outcome of traumatic exposure. PTSD and other clinically significant distress reactions are a key step in triggering the processes through which exposure affects health. These processes involve psychological, biological, behavioral, and attentional mechanisms that interact to strain the body's ability to adapt, thereby increasing the likelihood of disease and illness behavior. However, by addressing the physical health consequences of traumatic exposure in treatment and treatment systems, the burden on individuals and society may be reduced.