Abstract:

Overgeneralization is a key diagnosis feature of mental disorder caused from stress. Most posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients have developed overgeneralization phenomenon after traumatic events. However, the relationship between overgeneralization and development of PTSD is unclear as so far. Some evidence suggested that overgeneralization results in the development of PTSD, on the contrary, some studies supported that PTSD facilitates the transition from ‘adaptive generalization’ to ‘maladaptive overgeneralization’. It is confirmed that PTSD and overgeneralization have commonalities on the development trajectory, and share the same abnormal mechanism on learning and memory. Further studies should focus on their relationship and brain mechanisms underlying them which could benefit to the early detection and diagnosis of PTSD, and also novel avenues for treatment.

Key words: posttraumatic stress disorder, generalization, maladaptive generalization, memory