What are the symptoms of PTSD?

Individuals who are living with PTSD can have intense, disturbing thoughts and emotions stemming from their traumatic experience.¹ These feelings can last long after the traumatic events have occurred. Symptoms can include:^{2, 3}

• Intrusive thoughts such as repeated, involuntary memories; distressing dreams; or flashbacks of the traumatic event that might be so vivid that people feel they are reliving the traumatic event over again
• Avoiding reminders of a traumatic event like staying away from people, places, objects, activities, or situations that might trigger memories of the event
• Resistance to talking about the traumatic event
• Changes in cognition and mood, such as an inability to remember aspects of the traumatic event; feeling detached or estranged from others; or not being to feel joy or satisfaction
• Irritability and angry outbursts
• Reckless or self-destructive behavior
• Hyper suspicious and watchful of surroundings
• Being easily startled
• Problems with concentration and/or sleep
• Negative thoughts and feelings