Ariana Grande publishes images of brain scanners on Instagram

The singer and songwriter Ariana Grande has posted on Instagram images showing what she suggests: an analysis of her brain after a battle against post-traumatic stress disorder.

Grande, who explained how she had battled the symptoms of PTSD since the attack on her concert in Manchester, England in 2017, shared her brain analyzes Thursday in Instagram Stories. One photo showed what she said was a healthy brain compared to a brain suffering from PTSD, and then she released another image showing her own brain.

"Hilarious and terrifying," wrote Grande.

She added that the images were "not a joke".

The Instagram post from Ariana Grande's stories. (Ariana Grande / Ariana Grande)

The Washington Post could not immediately join a representative of Grande.

PTSD is a mental health problem that can occur after a traumatic event, such as a mass shot, and include symptoms ranging from flashbacks to the event, to nightmares, seizures, and other conditions. Serious anxiety and panic, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Doctors diagnose the disorder through a physical exam and a psychological assessment, said Mayo, and the treatment usually involves certain types of psychotherapy.

Susan Bookheimer, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of California Medical School in Los Angeles, said that low-resolution scans like the one Grande seemed to share could not diagnose or show symptoms of PTSD.

"If we study a large group of individuals with PTSD and compare them to those without trauma using a much higher resolution brain scanning technique, such as functional MRI at 3 Tesla, or possibly a PET scan." with a new sensitive radioligand, we can see brain differences at the group level, "she wrote in an email to The Post." But without alleviating the terrible events she experienced and those of the many people With PTSD, the changes that occur in the brain are far too subtle to be visualized with the help of current techniques, and especially SPECT if that is the case, even though there are practitioners who will do such requests (and will often ask for a lot of money). There is no FDA-approved imaging technique for the diagnosis or disclosure of PTSD, and nothing similar in the UK. "

Grande had given a concert on May 22, 2017 at the Manchester Arena. As fans left, a suicide bomber killed nearly two dozen people and injured many more.

In a cover interview with British Vogue last year, Grande talked about the attack and its symptoms of PTSD.

"It's hard to talk because so many people have suffered huge and huge losses. But yes, it's a real thing, "she told the magazine. "I know these families and my fans, and everyone there has also experienced a lot. Time is the biggest thing. I feel I should not even talk about my own experience – as if I do not even have to say anything. I do not think I'll ever know how to talk about it and not cry. "

Eli Rosenberg contributed to this report.

Read more:

Ariana Grande tried to repair her Japanese tattoo. That still does not mean what she wanted.

Anti-abortion heartbeat bills are illegal. Why do Republicans continue to overtake them?

"Are you cared for or delivered?": A fugitive arrested after taunting the police online