Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that you see or that happens to you. During this type of event, you think that your life or others’ lives are in danger. You may feel afraid or feel that you have no control over what is happening. Anyone who has gone through a life-threatening event can develop PTSD.
Soldiers with PTSD experience three different kinds of symptoms:
Unfortunately, many people do not know that they have PTSD or do not seek treatment. Assess your symptoms and if you think you are struggling with PTSD, seek help early. Early treatment may reduce the long-term effects of PTSD that can potentially lead to other disorders such as depression. PTSD can be treated with psychotherapy (“talk” therapy) and medicines. For additional information on treatment options, contact your Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) Cadre, or U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) Advocate. For other resources, visit VA Mental Health.
Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) Cadre such as your primary care manager (PCM), nurse case manager (NCM) and social worker, or AW2 Advocate can help you understand your symptoms and evaluate treatment options. Your WTU Chaplain is also available to help you.
For additional information on PTSD, contact us or visit the following resources:
Is combat exposure the only way to develop PTSD?
Does PTSD appear immediately after the exposure to the traumatic event?
What is a “flashback?”
No. PTSD can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something terrible and scary that you see, hear about, or that happens to you, like sexual or physical assault, serious accidents, or even natural disasters, such as a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood or earthquake.
PTSD symptoms usually start soon after the traumatic event, but they may not occur until months or years later. They also may come and go over many years. If the symptoms last longer than four weeks, cause you great distress, or interfere with your work or home life, you might have PTSD.
As the name implies, in a flashback, a person may feel or act as though a traumatic event is happening again. There are a number of ways in which people may relive a trauma. They may have upsetting memories of the traumatic event. These memories can come back when they are not expecting them. At other times the memories may be triggered by a traumatic reminder such as when a combat Veteran hears a car backfire, a motor vehicle accident victim drives by a car accident, or a rape victim sees a news report of a recent sexual assault. These memories can cause both emotional and physical reactions. Sometimes these memories can feel so real it is as if the event is actually happening again. This is called a “flashback.” Reliving the event may cause intense feelings of fear, helplessness and horror similar to the feelings they had when the event first took place.
