Post-Traumatic Stress

Understanding Mental Health

Learning about Mental Health Care

Description of Issues and Disorders

Specific Information about Children

Starting Services: Helpful Information

Advance Directive

Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event that caused intense fear, helplessness, or horror. PTSD can result from personally experienced traumas (e.g., rape, war, natural disasters, abuse, serious accidents, and captivity) or from the witnessing or learning of a violent or tragic event.

While it is common to experience a brief state of anxiety or depression after such occurrences, people with PTSD continually relive the traumatic event; avoid individuals, thoughts, or situations associated with the event; and have symptoms of excessive emotions.

People with this disorder have these symptoms for longer than one month and cannot function as well as they did before the traumatic event. PTSD symptoms usually appear within three months of the traumatic experience; however, they sometimes occur months or even years later.

Although the symptoms for individuals with PTSD can vary considerably, they generally fall into three categories:

Re-experience: Individuals with PTSD often experience recurrent and intrusive recollections of and/or nightmares about the stressful event. Some experience flashbacks, hallucinations, or other vivid feelings of the event happening again. Others experience great psychological or physiological distress when certain things (objects, situations, etc.) remind them of the event.
Avoidance: Many with PTSD will persistently avoid things that remind them of the traumatic event. This can result in avoiding everything from thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the incident to activities, places, or people that cause them to recall the event. In others there may be a general lack of responsiveness signaled by an inability to recall aspects of the trauma, a decreased interest in formerly important activities, a feeling of detachment from others, a limited range of emotion, and/or feelings of hopelessness about the future.
Increased arousal: Symptoms in this area may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, becoming very alert or watchful, and/or jumpiness or being easily startled.

It is important to note that those with PTSD often use alcohol or other drugs in an attempt to self-medicate. Individuals with this disorder may also be at an increased risk for suicide.

Content courtesy of Mental Health Association of Maryland

Advanced Therapeutic Connections

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder