ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a potential mental health concern for victims of human trafficking. It considers that current PTSD diagnostic criteria reflect Western culture and worldview, limiting the understanding of the impact of cultural influences on the experience of trauma, specifically with regard to trafficking victims from non-Western societies. But while the Trafficking Victims Protection Act makes clear that all the risk factors for severe PTSD are present in the human trafficking experience, the mitigating factors that might help prevent the long-term mental health consequences, such as family and social supports, are generally absent. Neurobiological findings show that trauma entails a fundamental dysregulation of arousal modulation at the brain stem level. Traumatized victims suffer from baseline autonomic hyperarousal and lower resting heart rate compared to controls, suggesting that they have increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic tone.
