Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that some individuals develop after exposure to a traumatic event.

It’s normal to experience intense fear, anxiety, and sadness during and after a traumatic experience. For some people, these feelings subside on their own over time. But for others, living through such experiences can lead to mental health problems that interfere with their day-to-day life. In these instances, they may be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Any intensely distressing experience might qualify as traumatic, but common traumatic events range from upsetting events, like an accident or the unexpected death of a loved one, to more extreme events, such as sexual assault, intimate partner violence, war, or natural disaster. In some cases, PTSD can also be caused by hearing about a traumatic event that a loved one has undergone or traumatic memories, rather than experiencing such an event directly.

There are mental illnesses related to PTSD. Although the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) classifies PTSD and adjustment disorders as trauma and stress-related disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder should not be confused with adjustment disorder which is the unusually severe reaction to relatively normal circumstances and life stressors, not necessarily a life-threatening event.

Causes of PTSD

Some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing a very frightening event, from ongoing trauma, or after prolonged or repeated experiences of very severe stress. Some examples of the kind of traumatic experiences that can lead to PTSD include:

• Car accidents
• Natural disasters
• Sexual or physical assault
• Sexual abuse, neglect, or other mistreatment in childhood
• War
• Serious health problems
• Torture
• Indirectly, by learning of another person’s trauma. For example, learning of a violent death of someone you love may lead to PTSD.

Scientists do not yet know exactly why some people develop PTSD and others do not, but experiencing symptoms of PTSD is never a sign of weakness or failure. PTSD affects people differently; a person of any age, gender, sex, culture, or ethnicity can develop PTSD.

Researchers think that some risk factors may increase our vulnerability to developing PTSD following trauma, including:

• A past experience of trauma
• Not having much support from family or friends
• Genetic components – for example, having a parent with mental illness

Dealing with increased stress post trauma, or personally having a history of mental illness, substance abuse, or other mental health problems can be additional risk factors.

Symptoms of PTSD

Symptoms of PTSD vary widely, but clinical PTSD diagnosis requires the presence of symptoms from each of the following categories. For an acute trauma reaction to become clinical PTSD, symptoms must persist for more than a month.

• Intrusive symptoms like flashbacks and/or nightmares: You may find yourself reliving the memory of the traumatic event or having nightmares about trauma.
• Avoidance symptoms: You might avoid thoughts or experiences that remind you of the traumatic event.

Indications related to negative thoughts or mood symptoms can include any of the following, among others:

• Angry outbursts, persistent irritation, sadness, or mood swings
• Intense anxiety and difficulty relaxing
• Feelings of guilt or shame, possibly including a sense that the trauma was somehow your fault
• Arousal symptoms like being easily startled, tense, or jumpy
• Emotional numbness or lack of energy
• Control symptoms like self-destructive behavior including substance abuse

In addition to these behavioral symptoms, some people also experience physical symptoms including headaches, digestive issues, and/or changes in eating, or sleep problems.

Types of PTSD

If you’re struggling with PTSD, you have a variety of options for treatment. These include:

• PTSD with delayed onset: In this type of PTSD, symptoms begin more than six months after the traumatic event.
• PTSD with dissociation: For some people, the mood symptoms described above are accompanied by feelings of unreality, as if you were not actually present during the traumatic event and may not be present even in your current day-to-day life. This type of PTSD has its own clinical diagnosis and may be treated differently.
• Acute Stress Disorder: Acute Stress Disorder involves the same kinds of experiences and symptoms as PTSD, but it has a shorter duration of one month or less. If this disorder lasts longer than one month, it becomes clinical PTSD.
• Collective trauma: Collective trauma is not a diagnosis, but rather a particular subset of traumatic experience that can often lead to PTSD. Collective traumas apply to an entire group, community, or even nation, with individual reactions varying within the group.

Examples of this kind of trauma include war, genocide, mass shootings, natural phenomena, and some effects of climate change.