What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Mental Health ConditionsPTSD

What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Everyday Health
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Updated on March 11, 2026
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that may be triggered by witnessing or experiencing a shocking or traumatic event. Some examples include sustaining a life-threatening injury, witnessing death on the battlefield, or being the victim of a sexual assault, school shooting, natural disaster, or car accident.

The event does not need to be directly experienced. PTSD may develop after witnessing another person experience a traumatic event or after learning that a relative or close friend was exposed to a trauma — for example, witnessing death by a first responder or watching a family member go through a traumatic event.

The lifetime prevalence of PTSD in the United States is about 7 percent.

 Understanding the symptoms, causes, and treatment options can help you and your family cope if you or a loved one is experiencing PTSD.

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Signs and Symptoms of PTSD

In a person with PTSD, symptoms can be triggered by anything that leads the person to feel threatened, whether it’s real or perceived danger. Triggers may include a noise, a smell, or a song.

There are four main symptom clusters associated with PTSD. All of these symptoms must be experienced for at least one month to receive a diagnosis.

1. Reexperiencing the Event

Intrusive memories, which are memories about the trauma that happen in response to a triggering stimulus (like a taste or a smell), can come back at any time, and an individual may feel as though they are reexperiencing the trauma again. Physical symptoms can include sweating and a racing heart.

In severe cases, one may reexperience the event by having flashbacks, in which the person may momentarily feel like they are back at the time when the event occurred.

People with PTSD can also experience dreams and nightmares about the trauma.

 “These cause a lot of distress for people, and they often try to find ways to manage their emotions when this happens,” says Michele Pole, PhD, clinic director at West Chester University’s department of community mental health services in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

2. Avoidance

People with PTSD will actively try to avoid thoughts, feelings, people, places, or situations that remind them of the trauma. They may also avoid talking about their trauma with others.

For example, if the person was in a serious car accident, he or she may drive several miles out of the way to avoid the intersection where that traumatic event occurred.

Avoidance can lead to unhealthy behaviors. People may start to drink or use drugs or use either one more frequently, Pole says. “It’s a way to self-medicate [and] avoid feeling the feelings that come up after somebody experiences trauma,” she says.

3. Arousal and Reactivity

Feelings of hypervigilance or arousal occur when people with PTSD become stuck in fight-or-flight mode and their nervous system remains on high alert at all times.

 “An individual scans the environment for danger because there’s this fear that danger is around any corner,” Dr. Pole says.
People with PTSD who experience the symptom of hypervigilance also may have an increased startle response, may have trouble with concentration, and may experience sleep problems. They may also engage in destructive behaviors or have aggressive outbursts.

4. Mood and Cognitive Changes

People with PTSD may have a shift in the way they view the world, themselves, and others. They may have more negative thoughts and feelings, and they may feel like they can’t trust other people or themselves. “They may decide the world is not a safe place,” Pole says.

It’s also common for people with PTSD to feel shame. In an effort to make sense of the event, they blame themselves. They may falsely believe that it’s their fault, or that they can make sure it doesn’t happen again, which may be particularly true of women who are victims of sexual assault.

People may feel shame because they believe they weren’t strong enough to stop the trauma. “It’s a way to feel that they have some control over what happened to them. But what that shame does is keep them stuck,” Pole says.

Other mood and cognition symptoms of PTSD include difficulty remembering certain parts of the trauma, feelings of isolation and detachment, decreased interest in activities you once enjoyed, and difficulties experiencing positive emotions. These symptoms can be especially challenging to cope with because they are not easy to diagnose.

Risk Factors and Causes of PTSD

The most significant risk factor for PTSD is previous trauma.

 The more trauma a person experiences, the higher his or her likelihood is of developing PTSD.

This is thought to be because trauma leads to physical changes in the brain. It increases activity in the amygdala, which is the part of the brain where the fight-or-flight response is initiated, and it may decrease connectivity in the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain that’s responsible for decision-making and planning processes, like reasoning.

Other risk factors include being injured in the traumatic event, experiencing physical or sexual assault, or being involved in combat.

Military service members and veterans can develop PTSD as a result of the events they experienced or witnessed.

The estimated percentage of veterans affected by PTSD varies according to the war they were involved in, as outlined by the VA:

  • Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom: between 11 and 20 percent
  • Gulf War: 12 percent
  • Vietnam War: between 15 and 30 percent
Types of trauma include trauma that occurred during combat or military situations, including sexual trauma, which includes sexual harassment and sexual assault that occurs during training, combat, or peacetime.

Gender and genetics are other possible risk factors.

 When traumatic events and revictimizations are controlled for, women are diagnosed with PTSD more often than men, which suggests that there may be a genetic factor at play, says Obianuju Berry, MD, a psychiatrist at NYU Langone Health in New York City.
Women are twice as likely to develop PTSD as men. An estimated 10 to 12 percent of women will develop PTSD in their lives, compared with 5 to 6 percent of men.

Intergenerational transmission of trauma is the idea that the effects of trauma can be passed down to the offspring of survivors. Whether the intergenerational trauma transmission is a consequence of in utero neurodevelopmental disruptions, which may cause fetal DNA damage, or due to damage during early-life caregiver-infant interactions is still being explored.

But the risk of intergenerational transmission of trauma is greater on an individual’s maternal side. “If the mother has PTSD upon exposure to a traumatic event, the likelihood that the child would develop PTSD is greater, when compared with the general population,” says Arielle Schwartz, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Boulder, Colorado, and author of The Complex PTSD Workbook.

How Is PTSD Diagnosed?

Some individuals who experience a traumatic event may have initial distressing symptoms but not go on to develop PTSD.

 They might have acute stress reactions that last for a short time and resolve spontaneously, or which resolve with limited mental health treatment, Pole says.
Individuals who have distressing symptoms that persist beyond one month should talk to their primary care physician about a referral to a mental health professional. Individuals may also self-refer themselves after taking a PTSD self-screen.

There are several tools mental health professionals may use to diagnose PTSD, including structured interviews and self-reported assessments. One tool that’s commonly used is the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), which was developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD. The screening test involves a series of questions meant to evaluate both the PTSD symptoms someone may have experienced within the last week and those experienced at any point in their life.

All screening tools assess symptoms based on the symptom clusters described above: reexperiencing the event, arousal, and mood and cognitive changes.

However, diagnosing PTSD isn’t always straightforward, Pole says. The best way to ensure an accurate diagnosis is to see a mental health professional who has experience with PTSD and understands what it can look like, without relying too heavily on the diagnostic tools. “Just because someone doesn’t meet full criteria for PTSD, that doesn’t mean that they’re not suffering,” Pole says, or that they shouldn’t seek help or wouldn’t benefit from treatment.

Treatment and Medication Options for PTSD

Medical professionals say self-education is the first step toward identifying a proper treatment plan. There’s an emotional benefit to reading up on PTSD as well: “When they understand what they’re experiencing is normal within the circumstances they have been through, there’s a real relief in that,” Pole says.

Treatment options for PTSD include counseling, medication, and complementary therapies like meditation.

Counseling Options

The main treatment for PTSD is talk therapy, particularly forms of cognitive behavioral therapy, including:

  • Cognitive Processing Therapy This is a type of trauma-focused therapy designed to treat PTSD by helping individuals challenge and reframe painful beliefs and emotions related to their trauma while safely confronting distressing memories.
  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy This is a structured therapy that uses guided eye movements while recalling traumatic memories, to help the brain reprocess them so that they feel less overwhelming, thereby reducing PTSD symptoms.
  • Group Therapy This is a type of therapy conducted in a supportive therapeutic setting where individuals with similar traumatic experiences can share and process their feelings together. It is sometimes done alongside family therapy, to address the broader impact of PTSD.
  • Prolonged Exposure Therapy This is a type of therapy that aims to reduce fear by gradually and repeatedly exposing individuals to traumatic memories and triggers in a safe, controlled environment.
  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy This is a structured type of treatment that teaches people how trauma affects their thoughts and body, helps them build coping skills, and uses gradual exposure to help them reframe unhelpful thinking patterns and manage symptoms.

Medication Options

Although there are no oral medication treatments specifically indicated for PTSD, some medications may be helpful in dealing with specific symptoms.

For example, antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil), and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors like venlafaxine (Effexor), are sometimes useful in helping with mood disturbances and anxiety associated with PTSD.

Complementary and Integrative Treatments

Complementary therapies for PTSD include acupuncture, yoga, and meditation, though scientists are still exploring how big of a role these modes can play in relieving PTSD symptoms.

Prognosis of PTSD

After a traumatic event, distressing symptoms may be present almost immediately, or it may take months or even years for symptoms to appear.

As noted above, for PTSD to be diagnosed, symptoms must last longer than one month and the symptoms must cause significant distress or interfere with your life.

The duration of PTSD varies from individual to individual; for some it may take weeks, months, or years to see an improvement in symptoms — but treatment can help increase the chances that you will recover sooner.

 Sometimes, however, PTSD symptoms may persist if the traumatic event is ongoing, such as with domestic abuse.

Recovering from PTSD is dependent on several factors, including whether the individual is in treatment with therapy and/or medication. Having this condition doesn’t mean that a person is automatically bound to experience symptoms for the rest of their lives.

Complications of PTSD

PTSD may lead to the following complications:

Suicide Linked to PTSD

Research has found that PTSD accounts for up to 6 percent of suicides in men and 3 to 5 percent of suicides in women.

Fortunately, with treatment, research shows that suicidal thoughts among people with PTSD decreases.

If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts stemming from PTSD, seek help immediately.

FIND HELP NOW

If you or a loved one is experiencing significant distress or having thoughts about suicide and needs support, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. If you need immediate help, call 911.

PTSD Stigma

As with other mental illnesses, people with PTSD can be depicted as dangerous, unpredictable, incompetent, or to blame for their illness. People with PTSD can feel stigma from others and experience self-stigma.

This stigma and discrimination can lead to:

  • Decreased sense of hope
  • Diminished self-worth
  • Worsening mental health symptoms
  • Strained social relationships
  • Lower likelihood of sticking with treatment
  • Increased difficulties at work
According to research, military personnel experiencing mental health concerns often delay seeking care due to fears of being perceived as incapable, less competent, or emotionally unstable.

“It reinforces to the individual with PTSD that they’re weak or that there’s something wrong with them, and that really feeds that shame,” Pole says. “In fact, people who have been through trauma are some of the strongest individuals I’ve ever worked with.”

Unfortunately, many of the myths about PTSD can be harmful. But by knowing how to recognize them, you can overcome this potential barrier to care and regain your health.

The Takeaway

  • If you or a loved one is experiencing distressing symptoms related to PTSD following a traumatic event, consider seeking help from a mental health professional to explore treatment options such as trauma-focused psychotherapies and medication.
  • It’s beneficial to seek out information and learn more about PTSD, as understanding your condition can validate your experiences and help facilitate emotional relief.
  • Remember, experiencing PTSD is more common than you might think — it affects up to 7 percent of the population, with women being more than twice as likely to develop the disorder, compared with men.
  • Don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts linked to PTSD. Immediate assistance is available 24/7 through hotlines such as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

FAQ

What does PTSD do to a person?

PTSD is a complex mental health disorder that develops after a traumatic event. A person with PTSD may have intrusive thoughts and, less commonly, flashbacks. PTSD may also cause a person to become angry, sad, and afraid. Such pervasive moods may not have been evident before the traumatic event.

PTSD symptoms fall into four categories: reexperiencing trauma through intrusive thoughts like flashbacks and nightmares; avoidance of certain places, people, and situations; altered mood and cognition; and altered arousal and reactivity, such as extreme irritability, reckless behavior, and problems sleeping.

While PTSD looks different in every individual, hallmark symptoms include drastic change of mood, persistent fear, and avoidance of places or other triggers. Some people may relive their experiences so vividly that they feel like the traumatic event is replaying in real life.

It’s possible to recover with the help of treatments that can significantly help reduce symptoms and improve overall quality of life. Treatment options include psychotherapies and psychiatric medications. Complementary therapies, such as acupuncture and mindfulness practices, may also help.

PTSD may lead to feelings of sadness and hopelessness. You may feel angry and act out of fear more than you used to, and you may also become paranoid. Increased social isolation and loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities are common too.

Resources We Trust

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
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