post-traumatic stress disorder

n. (PTSD) An anxiety disorder diagnosable according to the DSM-IV-TR. PTSD occurs in people who have experienced life-threatening events to which they respond with feelings of fear, helplessness, or horror. Examples of causal events include, but are not limited to, combat, childhood abuse, rape, other physical assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, and severe motor vehicle accidents. Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop PTSD, but chances increase with more severe or repeated traumas. PTSD is marked by three distinct sets of symptoms: reexperiencing the trauma, avoiding reminders of the trauma, and experiencing increased physiological arousal. Reexperiencing symptoms may include intrusive thoughts or nightmares about the event, psychological or physiological reactivity when reminded of the event, and in its most severe form flashbacks in which the person feels as if he/she is reliving the event in the moment. Children may display reexperiencing symptoms by reenacting the trauma during play. Avoidance symptoms may include trying to avoid things that remind the person of the trauma and failing to remember parts of the trauma. Avoidance symptoms can also be marked by a lack of interest in activities, detachment from others, restricted emotions, and a sense of a foreshortened future. Arousal symptoms may include trouble sleeping or concentrating, irritability, hypervigilance in which the person is always on guard against future dangers, and an exaggerated startle response. For a diagnosis of PTSD, someone must have experienced a qualifying trauma and have at least one reexperiencing, three avoidance, and two arousal symptoms, and the symptoms must last for at least a month, causing significant personal distress or functional impairment. Symptoms of PTSD typically begin shortly after a trauma; however, they may have a delayed onset, not developing until years later. – ABB