PTSD... suffering in silence

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder..  Many feelings come to mind. Sadness, Fear, Avoidance, Hyper-Vigilance.
Many of us feel fear, like, please let this one not affect me.  Others drown their feelings in alcohol, to avoid or numb the pain.  Others may suffer in silence. Worried that their feelings might not be normal. Afraid what others will think.  They are the bullet proof, the strong, the powerful.  They are all these wonderful characteristics. These people are also human.  We are learning more and more about this disorder. A definition of PTSD is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.(NIMH)  We are called to people's worst days, sometimes worst life events.  It's normal to have feelings of sadness, and empathy.  This months topic is knowing when to seek help if you are having additional symptoms.  Symptoms that might be interfering with the rest of your life.
Physiology:
"The field of neuroimaging has made tremendous advances in the past decade and has contributed greatly to our understanding of the physiology of fear and the pathophysiology of PTSD. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated significant neurobiologic changes in PTSD. There appear to be 3 areas of the brain that are different in patients with PTSD compared with those in control subjects: the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the medial frontal cortex. The amygdala appears to be hyperreactive to trauma-related stimuli. The hallmark symptoms of PTSD, including exaggerated startle response and flashbacks, may be related to a failure of higher brain regions (i.e., the hippocampus and the medial frontal cortex) to dampen the exaggerated symptoms of arousal and distress that are mediated through the amygdala in response to reminders of the traumatic event. The findings of structural and functional neuroimaging studies of PTSD are reviewed as they relate to our current understanding of the pathophysiology of this disorder."(Nuts, 2004)