Gender differences in post-traumatic stress disorder

Abstract

Post–traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was first described in situations of war in ancient Greece. For this reason the female gender was practically excluded for decades from this diagnosis because of a gender issue. Epidemiological differences point to the predominance of PTSD in women over men; even with the highest prevalence of trauma in men, women are more likely to develop this condition. It is possible that these figures belie an oversimplification of epidemiological studies that do not consider certain traumas or certain predispositions determined by the female gender role. In this chapter we review the psychopathological differences that can be found in this syndrome by gender, based on the few studies that address the issue, because we have found a scientific vacuum that is yet to be explored. Gender violence is a major source of trauma, whether acute or chronic, occurring much more frequently in women than in men and that has been silenced for many years; for this reason it has not been recorded or studied by experts as a focus of PTSD. The way in which men and women channel and manage emotions is different, and these strategies that we use as men or women can determine the presence or absence of PTSD. The question is whether this is due to biological differences or to assimilating how to behave, adjusting to the expectations that society has invested in us according to our male or female gender.