Initial Reaction to Trauma:
Research shows that the stronger the initial reaction to a trauma, the greater risk of developing PTSD. Women generally score higher than men in terms of acute subjective responses, such as greater threat perception and dissociative reactions, which are known predictors of PTSD. A recent study compared physical and psychological reactions following a motor vehicle accident. The researchers studied initial heart rate and urinary cortisol levels along with emotional reactions such as initial perceived life threat. The research found that the severity of initial reaction to the trauma was linked to the severity of PTSD. According to this research, women’s physical and psychological reactions to the trauma were stronger than men’s reactions. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3031659/
Self-Blame and PTSD:
Self-blame is linked to a higher incidence of PTSD. Because women are more likely to be sexually assaulted, there is more self-blame associated with this kind of trauma. Therefore, women, as opposed to men, are more likely to blame themselves for their assault.
While men also experience traumas like sexual assault, abuse, and domestic violence, the occurrence rate is much lower.
For men, combat trauma is most associated with PTSD. However, combat trauma generally produces less shame and other negative feelings about oneself.
Different Physical Reactions to Trauma:
Traumatic stress affects different areas of the brains of boys and girls at different ages.
Women have a two to three times higher risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to men. Several factors are involved explaining this difference (Christiansen & Hansen, 2015).
Stress responses activate the hypothalamic/adrenal/pituitary(HPA) axis in the brain. In individuals with PTSD, the HPA-axis response is dysregulated, as I’ve stated repeatedly.
HPA-axis dysfunction causes the release of the stress hormone cortisol. The more severe the trauma, the more cortisol released.
People with PTSD generally have lower amounts of cortisol circulating through their bodies—this may be due to end-stage adrenal fatigue, which ultimately results in low cortisol levels.
According to research, women appear to have a more sensitized hypothalamus–pituitary–axis (HPA-Axis) than men, while men appear to have a sensitized physiological hyperarousal system. PTSD has consistently been associated with amygdala hyperactivity, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) hypoactivity, and reduced communication (functional connectivity) between the vmPFC and amygdala, with the lower PFC control over the amygdala providing an explanation for the excessive fear response in PTSD. (Frijling, 2017).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5632782/
For those suffering PTSD, when a traumatic memory is recalled, memories don’t fade over time as they do in people with normal-functioning HPA axis responses.
The HPA axis is more sensitive and responds more strongly to stress in females than males, especially during certain points in the menstrual cycle. If a woman is later in her cycle, her brain will release more cortisol.
Therefore, if a traumatic event happens to a woman while she is in the luteal phase of her menstrual cycle instead of follicular, she’s more likely to develop flashback symptoms and PTSD.
Men are vulnerable to developing post-traumatic stress disorder in other ways. Specifically, the hippocampus—the part of the brain that forms memories—decreases in volume in men with PTSD.