Understanding PTSD: A Brief Overview of Biological Research

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder has been a relatively hot topic in the legal world recently. Even though there is a rhetoric present surrounding all suffers of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which includes rape survivors, abuse victims, first responders, and others exposed to trauma, veteran diagnoses will be discussed in this paper. Although the percentage of incarcerated veterans has dropped, statisticians have reported that veterans make up 10% of the current population of inmates on death row across the country. Further, unrelated investigation has shown that potential jurors frequently report a bias towards rehabilitation than incarceration for past military members when given the opportunity, but regardless, they tend to show a guilt bias. With all of this information, the legal community has been left wondering how to address this disorder in the courtroom. Mainly, this question morphs into how are people currently addressing this disorder and how can this method be improved upon? In order to explore this question, a basic understanding of the disorder is necessary.