Ask the Expert with Dr. John H. Krystal

Many people are troubled by thoughts and feelings that they do not feel comfortable sharing with their friends or family members. The inability to share these thoughts and feelings can make people feel isolated, unsupported and ashamed... Mental health professionals are specifically trained to help people feel comfortable in sharing their difficult thoughts and feelings and to provide feedback and sometimes homework exercises that help many people feel better afterwards. Overall, people who have problems with tension and anxiety that are interfering with their life find it helpful to talk to a therapist.

“Understanding how the brain recovers from stress – the neurobiology of resilience – and how that could be related to the psychology of stress – how people are recovering in terms of their experience of the world … the biology and psychology are meeting.”

“Uniting molecular genetics with brain imaging and psychopharmacology - these sorts of interdisciplinary team science approaches to solving this very complicated problem of PTSD - I think is a very good path.”

The length of time a person can experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varies.

According to our diagnostic manual, one must have symptoms for at least one month following an event to receive a PTSD diagnosis. In some cases, particularly where it is not treated, PTSD can last a very long time, perhaps the remainder of one’s life. Most people with longstanding PTSD find that the symptoms are not steady in their severity. For some people, PTSD symptoms gradually fade over time. Other people find that symptoms may increase when they encounter reminders of their traumatic events. Anniversaries of the event, for example, are commonly difficult times.