Why 50% of PTSD Patients Still Suffer Despite Treatment

For most people, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) conjures images of combat veterans or first responders. But that's only part of the story.

Over 250 million adults suffer from PTSD globally. Not just soldiers but also assault survivors, accident victims, childhood abuse survivors, healthcare workers, refugees, parents who've lost children. Trauma doesn't discriminate by geography or socioeconomic status.

But here's what most people don't know: PTSD isn't just psychological. It's physiological.

When trauma occurs, your body's alarm system, the sympathetic nervous system, gets hijacked. For most people, it resets within hours or days. But in PTSD patients, the system stays locked in "fight or flight" mode, flooding your body with stress hormones 24/7, even years after the trauma has passed.

The Real Numbers

Over 50% of PTSD patients remain symptomatic despite treatment. We have medications. We have psychotherapy. We have interventions that work. Yet millions are still trapped in their body's dysfunction.

€350 billion in annual societal cost. 22% elevated suicide risk. 3x higher opioid dependence. Widespread disability and lost productivity.

What PTSD Actually Feels Like

Imagine your smoke alarm going off randomly at 3 AM. Every night. You can't sleep. Your heart races at the slightest trigger. You avoid places and people. You struggle to concentrate. Joy feels impossible.

Now imagine living like this for 5, 10, 20 years.

Why Current Treatments Fall Short

Antidepressants (SSRIs Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) help some but cause systemic side effects. Psychotherapy takes months or years. Nerve blocks work, 70-80% responder rates, but the relief lasts only 8 weeks. Then you need another. And another.

The gap is obvious: we need durable solutions.

What We're Missing

This is the question that keeps me up at night: if we know the mechanism, if we know what works, why do we accept temporary relief as the best we can do?

The answer is clear. We need to stop treating PTSD as purely psychological. We need to address the root cause: a dysregulated nervous system stuck in overdrive.

We need solutions that work globally, in resource-rich countries and resource-constrained settings alike.

That's the conversation we need to have.

If you work in healthcare, trauma care, or mental health innovation, what's your take? What barriers do you see in treating PTSD more effectively?