Chunk #73 — Comorbidity of Post-traumatic stress disorder or major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder and immune signaling — Post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety-like disorder that may develop after exposure to stressful or traumatic events. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD is approximately 7% in individuals age 18 or older, with rates higher among women (8.6%) than men (4.1%) (Kessler et al., 2005; Pietrzak et al., 2011). PTSD and AUD frequently co-occur (Ralevski et al., 2014). There are strong associations between specific PTSD symptoms and misuse of specific drugs (Dworkin et al., 2018; Head et al., 2016). While avoidance and hyper-arousal symptoms are more strongly associated with substance abuse in general (Head et al., 2016; Saladin et al., 1995), avoidance and re-experiencing trauma are more strongly related to alcohol abuse (Head et al., 2016).
