Page 132 - GHES-3-2

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
The impact of PTSD on memory and cognition

Sasha Kamal*
Researcher, International Neurological Trauma Research Center, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

An earthquake devastated northern Pakistan on October 08, 2005, significantly
affecting the mental health of the victims. Although post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) rates were noted to change, no official study has quantified its prevalence
following this disaster. This study examines the relationship between PTSD symptoms
and memory functions in child and adolescent earthquake survivors, focusing on
those attending schools in the affected areas. Participants first completed a self-
assessment PTSD questionnaire, followed a week later by the Rivermead Behavioral
Memory Test. Subsequently, the Children and War Foundation’s “Writing for Recovery”
manual (April 2008 version) were implemented. The PTSD questionnaire and memory
test were then re-administered to evaluate intervention outcomes. Results revealed
that all three groups, control (A) and earthquake survivors (B and C), improved
memory test scores after the intervention. However, control group A consistently
outperformed groups B and C. PTSD symptoms in groups B and C decreased after
Academic editor: applying the intervention, while no change was observed in the control group A.
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE
These findings highlight significant correlations between trauma and the severity of
*Corresponding author: PTSD in adolescents. Adolescents exposed to trauma (groups B and C) demonstrated
Sasha Kamal
(sashakamal@hotmail.com) poorer memory functions compared to peers without PTSD (group A). Furthermore,
the “Writing for Recovery” intervention effectively reduced PTSD symptoms and
Citation: Kamal, S. (2025). The
impact of PTSD on memory and improved memory performance in earthquake survivors. This study underscores the
cognition. Global Health Econ critical impact of PTSD on neurological cognition and memory in young populations
Sustain, 3(2):124-134. following natural disasters and demonstrates the potential benefits of targeted
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.5121
psychological interventions for trauma recovery.
Received: October 11, 2024
Revised: November 8, 2024 Keywords: Neuroscience; Memory; Psychology; Neurology; Cognition; Post-traumatic
Accepted: December 4, 2024 stress disorder; Natural disasters
Published online: January 8, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a widely occurring trauma condition triggered
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, by a frightening or distressing experience that resulted in serious physical damage
provided the original work is or endangered life (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991). PTSD can also affect family
properly cited. members of sufferers (Breslau, 2002). It can occur in individuals of any age, including
Publisher’s Note: AccScience children and adolescents (North et al., 2004). PTSD can emerge after traumas such as
Publishing remains neutral with earthquakes, car accidents, war, hurricanes, and physical attacks. Planned dialogs or the
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional PTSD symptom self-report questionnaire are employed for PTSD analyses (Breslau,
affiliations. 2002; Pietrzak & Southwick, 2011).

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 124 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.5121