PTSD and Gender Differences in Earthquake Survivors

Abstract

A growing body of literature has explored Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) since its first introduction in DSM-III, up to the last DSM-5 edition that acknowledged the nosographic independence of post-traumatic stress conditions with respect to other mental disorders. In the past decades, increasing research has focused on the mental health impact of mass trauma such as earthquake on the general populations exposed, highlighting PTSD as being the most frequently occurring mental disorder affecting up to as much as even 80 {%} of the victims involved, particularly women. Women have been consistently demonstrated to be the most affected, as well as more symptomatic with respect to men, and with a substantially more chronic and disabling disorder. Interestingly, maladaptive behaviors that have been acknowledged by the DSM-5 among criterion symptoms, such as reckless driving, promiscuous sex, alcohol and drug addiction, self-injuring behaviors, and suicidal behaviors, show a different trend with men being the most affected, particularly in the younger age ranges. All these data support the need for specific interventions in the aftermath of such disasters, with particular attention to female gender.