What is PTSD?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is a condition where a person’s mental, physical, social, and/or spiritual wellbeing have been affected after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. (See What is trauma?)  To be diagnosed with PTSD, one must have symptoms lasting for more than a month and that cause significant problems in that person’s day-to-day life.1 (See What are the symptoms of PTSD?) It can affect people from all walks of life and be the result of physical or emotional harm or a situation that was life-threatening, such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, serious accident, war/combat, rape/sexual assault, witnessing the death of a loved one, and/or bullying, among many other things.2, 3 As many as 12 million people are living with PTSD in the United States.4 Women are twice as likely as men to have PTSD, while Latinos, African Americans, and Native Americans/Native Alaskans have higher rates of PTSD than non-Latino whites.5

Complex PTSD (or developmental trauma) occurs as a result of ongoing adverse events or trauma in childhood and can present in ways similar to PTSD. These experiences can have a profound impact on personality as well as cognitive, social, and emotional development.6

Footnotes

1. Taylor-Desir, M., (2022 November). What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd

2. Anxiety & Depression Association of America, (2022, October 25). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd

3. Taylor-Desir, M., (2022 November). What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd

4. Anxiety & Depression Association of America, (2022, October 25). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd

5. Taylor-Desir, M., (2022 November). What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd

6. Cruz, D., et al., (2022 July 22). Developmental Trauma: Conceptual framework, associated risks and comorbidities, and evaluation and treatment. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.800687/full