PTSD affects third of people who experience trauma

What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a very common mental health disorder, affecting 8.7% of people during their lifetime. The core symptoms are:

  • re-experiencing the trauma psychologically (flashbacks and nightmares)
  • avoiding reminders of the trauma
  • emotional numbing
  • hyperarousal (irritability, and being jumpy or constantly “on alert”)

Who gets PTSD?

PTSD is also known as posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSS) and is not caused by normal, everyday stress.[1] PTSD can occur at any age, it can occur during childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age.[1]:277

Posttraumatic stress disorder affects around 5% of men and 10% of women at some point during their life. Up to one in three people who experience a traumatic event develop PTSD as a result. — National Health Service, UK [20]

PTSD causes different people to react in very different ways, and it can be very disabling. “The disturbance, regardless of its trigger, causes clinically significant distress or impairment in the individual’s social interactions, capacity to work or other important areas of functioning.” [18] Read more: http://traumadissociation.com/ptsd.html?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=postplanner&utm_source=facebook.com