What Is PTSD?

When asked “What is post traumatic stress disorder?” many people naturally think of problems suffered by some soldiers who have been exposed to combat and the other horrors of war. While PTSD disorder among military veterans understandably receives much of the public’s attention, any person of any age who has been exposed to severe psychological trauma may experience the same symptoms as combat survivors, such as:

• Reliving traumatic events through nightmares, flashbacks or intrusive memories
• Being seriously disturbed or upset by events that trigger recall of the original trauma
• Avoiding people, places and things that may serve as reminders of the traumatic situation
• Feeling emotionally numb and detached from life
• Having trouble concentrating
• Having difficulty sleeping
• Being easily startled and having an excessively strong or violent startle reaction
• Problems with sexual functioning
• Physical symptoms such as dizziness, headaches or a pounding heart
• Feelings of guilt for having survived a situation that cost others their lives or their health
• Feeling that a “normal” future is not possible – or that there is no future at all

Any or all of these symptoms could show up long after the psychological trauma that caused them. If you have lived through a traumatic event and have suffered some or all of these symptoms for a month or more, you could be suffering from PTSD.

We run an award-winning PTSD Treatment Program