▲Patients with complex traumatic stress syndrome may also experience auditory hallucinations, hallucinations, depression, anxiety and other symptoms; (Photo credit: shutterstock)
Text / Zhou Bohan
Xiaoya (pseudonym), a 17-year-old high school student, panicked and out of breath when she was in school. She often felt that her classmates would discuss her affairs behind her back, and sometimes even heard others making fun of her, which led to depression and anxiety. There are even self-harm behaviors, so they often refuse to go to school.
Originally diagnosed as an early stage of schizophrenia, but taking antipsychotic drugs is very sensitive to drug side effects, and depression and self-mutilation behaviors have not significantly improved. The brain function of the patient was detected by near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and it was found that the patient’s “brain front Frontal lobe waveforms are more likely to be caused by depression and chronic psychological stress than schizophrenia.
After detailed questioning, I found out that Xiaoya had been bullied by her classmates for a long time. Even in high school, the shadow was still lingering. I often recalled the scene of being bullied at the beginning, and sometimes even felt that I saw the bullying at school. Hearing their laughing voices, the doctor judged that Xiaoya should have “Complex Traumatic Stress Syndrome” (Complex PTSD, referred to as C-PTSD). Combined with psychotherapy, after half a year, my emotional state gradually stabilized, and I returned to campus life after going to university.
Complex Traumatic Stress Syndrome Caused by Physical and Psychological Injuries
The Eleventh Edition of the International Classification of Diseases published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021 will make complex post-traumatic stress syndrome a formally diagnosed disease. C-PTSD is often caused by long-term physical and psychological injury events, resulting in Leaving an indelible shadow, common causes include: childhood abuse or parental emotional neglect, any form of abuse, bullying, domestic violence, sexual violence, etc.
The differences between C-PTSD symptoms and PTSD include: emotions are often out of control, repeated trauma (visual, auditory, and brain images) often consciously or unconsciously, frequent nightmares, and lack of self-confidence in interpersonal relationships, Excessively pleasing others and repeatedly experiencing severe trauma, dissociation occurs, and it is easy to feel similar to auditory hallucinations and hallucinations.
Although both C-PTSD and schizophrenia have auditory hallucination symptoms, the location of brain function affected is slightly different. C-PTSD is mainly caused by dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex of the brain, while schizophrenia The disease is mainly caused by the dysfunction of the frontal lobe and temporal lobe. The distinction between the two auditory hallucinations depends on the doctor’s detailed medical history inquiry and experience judgment. The use of “near-infrared optical brain function spectrometer” to detect brain waveforms can also assist in differential diagnosis. .
(The author is a physician at the Hsinchu Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University)
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▲Dr. Zhou Bohan pointed out that auditory hallucinations in teenagers are not necessarily schizophrenia, but may be complex traumatic stress syndrome. (Photo courtesy / Zhou Bohan)
▲Dr. Zhou Bohan said that the detection of brain waveforms by the “near-infrared optical brain function spectrometer” can assist in differential diagnosis. (Photo courtesy / Zhou Bohan)