Image control and symptom expression in posttraumatic stress disorder

Despite the devastating impact of affective dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there has been little research on how trauma relate s to affect regulation. This study examines the relationship between the co gnitive capacity to control mental images and symptoms of individuals with (N = 23) and without (N = 23) PTSD after exposure to SCUD missile attacks d uring the Gulf War. The capacity to control mental images, symptoms of post trauma, anxiety, and anger were assessed. PTSD subjects with a high image c ontrol reported a higher capacity to control anger, lower levels of anger s tate and expression, and lower levels of intrusive symptoms compared with P TSD subjects with low image control. In individuals without PTSD, results s how that the better the image control, the lower the control of anger and t he higher the expression of anger. Image control seems to play different fu nctions in the emotional regulation of normal subjects (facilitatory) and P TSD patients (protective).