People who have a mild form of stroke called a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, are at risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study found that almost one-third of people with TIA were diagnosed with PTSD later in life.
TIA’s typically last just a few minutes and don’t have lasting symptoms. There are only a few studies done to analyze this type of stroke, but previous studies have linked stroke and PTSD. For the study, researchers followed 108 people in Germany who had had a TIA and found that three months later, 32 of them met the criteria for PTSD.
Dr. Larry Goldstein, a professor of neurology at Duke University Medical Center who was not involved in the study, said, 29 percent seemed pretty high. “The overall average is 13 percent” for TIAs and strokes combined. He also notes that studies done on TIA vary since symptoms are measured different ways.
