Post-traumatic stress disorder

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD), is a psychological condition caused by extremely frightening or distressing events.

PTSD can occur following the experience or witnessing of traumatic events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, serious accidents, violent deaths, and violent personal assaults including rape. Around 30% of people exposed to such a stressful event will develop PTSD.

PTSD can affect anyone. It is common and affects around 5% of men and 10% of women some time in their life. An individual with PTSD often relives the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, has problems with concentrating and sleeping, with feelings of isolation and detachment from life.

These symptoms can be lasting and severe enough to significantly impair the individualâ€™s daily life.

Symptoms usually develop immediately or within three months of a traumatic event, although occasionally they do not begin until years later. PTSD can develop at any age, including in childhood. PTSD has been called â€˜shell shockâ€™ or â€˜battle fatigue syndromeâ€™, because it first came to prominence in the First World War with soldierâ€™s memories of the trenches. It has only recently been recognised that traumatic events outside the war situation can have similar effects.

The term post-traumatic stress disorder was first used after the Vietnam War and formalized in 1980 with its inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders developed by the American Psychiatric Association.

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