Heart rate after trauma and the specificity of fear circuitry disorders

Abstract

Background Fear circuitry disorders purportedly include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia and specific phobia. It is proposed that these disorders represent a cluster of anxiety disorders triggered by stressful events and lead to fear conditioning. Elevated heart rate (HR) at the time of an aversive event may reflect strength of the unconditioned response, which may contribute to fear circuitry disorders.Method This prospective cohort study assessed HR within 48 h of hospital admission in 602 traumatically injured patients, who were assessed during hospital admission and within 1 month of trauma exposure for lifetime psychiatric diagnosis. At 3..