By Indo Asian News Service, [RxPG] New York, Nov 21 (IANS) Men and women may respond to trauma differently with the latter more prone to stress and anxiety disorders, says a new study.
Men may experience more traumatic events than women, but women are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - an anxiety disorder developed after experiencing a traumatic event, reported the online edition of health magazine WebMD.
Symptoms of PTSD may include flashbacks or re-experiencing the trauma, sleep problems, nightmares, panic attacks and depression, said researchers who reviewed 290 studies conducted between 1980 and 2005.
David Tolin of University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Edna Foa of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine conducted the study to determine who is more at risk for potentially traumatic events and PTSD - men or women.
The results showed men have a higher risk of experiencing traumatic events but women have higher rates of the disorder.
The researchers found that women are more likely to have experienced sexual assault and child sexual abuse, but less likely to have experienced accidents, non-sexual assaults, disasters, war, or witness death or injury.
The results suggest that sexual trauma may cause more emotional suffering, leading to PTSD. But the study also showed that women still had higher PTSD rates than men when both sexes were compared on the same type of trauma.
For example, female survivors of motor vehicle accidents were more likely to report symptoms of PTSD than male survivors.
Researchers said experiencing more than one type of trauma may make women more prone to PTSD than men.
