Post-traumatic stress disorder
What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that affects people who have witnessed or been involved in a traumatic event. Symptoms of PTSD persist for more than one month after exposure to a traumatic event, and can disrupt the lives of people affected and their families. PTSD is sometimes referred to as ‘shell shock’ or ‘battle fatigue’.
What causes PTSD?
PTSD happens to people who have experienced very unpleasant, traumatic events in their lives. These events usually involve witnessing or being personally at risk of death, near death, or serious injury. Being involved in the horrors of war is one of the most common triggers for PTSD, but a wide variety of other things can cause it.
These include motor accidents, physical and sexual assault, armed robbery, natural disasters such as a bushfire or cyclone, or having a heart attack or other life-threatening medical diagnosis. People such as emergency workers and ambulance officers, whose work brings them into frequent contact with unpleasant events, are not immune and may experience PTSD.
What are the symptoms of PTSD?
People with PTSD usually show a similar range of symptoms, including the following:
- persistently re-experiencing the event (recollections, flashbacks, vivid dreams and nightmares);
- avoiding places, sounds or other things which trigger memories of the event;
- a generally ‘flat’ mood, or emotional ‘numbing’;
- irritability, and being easily upset, startled or angered; and
- having trouble sleeping.
Because of a reluctance to talk about unpleasant experiences, many cases of PTSD go undetected for years. Often the problem is mistaken for anxiety or depression.
People with PTSD have a higher incidence of alcohol and other substance abuse. Depression is also more common among people with PTSD.
What is the treatment for PTSD?
PTSD can be effectively treated with education, counselling, support and medications, as well as management of associated mood disorders and substance abuse problems. Cognitive behaviour therapy, a form of psychotherapy, is one of the main treatments used for PTSD. There is some evidence that a novel technique called eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) can be beneficial.
PTSD can have a major effect on the individual and their family members, but sufferers often hide or diminish their symptoms. If you or someone you know has symptoms that may indicate PTSD, you should contact your doctor to talk about it.
Last Reviewed: 31 January 2009
- 1. Therapeutic Guidelines (eTG). Post-traumatic stress disorder. In: Psychotropic guidelines [updated 2008, Oct; accessed 2009, Feb 12]. Available from: http://www.tg.org.au
2. Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. Australian Guidelines for the Management of Adults with Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder [published 2007, Feb; accessed 2009, Feb 12]. Available from: http://www.acpmh.unimelb.edu.au/resources/resources-guidelines.html#1
3. Bisson J. Post-traumatic stress disorder. BMJ Clinical Evidence 2007;12:1005
