POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is more than a diagnosis. Clinically, it is defined as a psychiatric condition that can develop after experiencing, witnessing, or learning about a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. It can also arise from repeated exposure to distressing details, as seen in first responders, healthcare workers, and journalists. In the DSM-5, PTSD is classified under Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders, and it is recognized by its persistence—symptoms lasting at least one month—and the profound impact it can have on daily functioning.
Living with PTSD feels like your past never really leaves you. Memories of the trauma can appear unbidden, vivid and raw, intruding into your mind like a film on constant replay. Flashbacks, nightmares, or even small triggers—sounds, smells, or sights—can pull you back into that moment, making the world feel unsafe and your body tense, always alert. Avoidance becomes a survival strategy: avoiding people, places, conversations, or even thoughts that might bring the pain back. Yet avoidance narrows life, creating distance from the things and people that could offer connection and safety.
PTSD also changes how you feel and think. Negative beliefs about yourself, the world, or others can settle in, coloring every decision, every interaction. Emotional numbness, guilt, and shame can make it hard to experience joy or intimacy, leaving you isolated in ways that are invisible to those around you. Hypervigilance and irritability can make every unexpected sound a threat, every crowded room overwhelming. Sleep becomes elusive; concentration, fragile. For some, self-destructive behaviors, substance use, or suicidal thoughts may emerge as coping mechanisms, attempts to quiet the storm inside.
Not everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD, and its development is influenced by many factors—personal history, previous trauma, childhood adversity, or a lack of social support can increase vulnerability. Neurobiologically, dysregulation in the HPA axis and alterations in brain regions like the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex underpin the heightened fear response, emotional memory, and difficulty regulating reactions that define the disorder. For those who experience repeated or chronic trauma, Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) can emerge, intensifying difficulties with emotional regulation, self-identity, and relationships.
Recovery is possible, though it is rarely simple. Evidence-based psychotherapies—Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)—help individuals confront memories safely, process them, and reframe beliefs that no longer serve them. Medications like SSRIs or prazosin can reduce anxiety, depression, or trauma-related nightmares, providing relief that makes therapy more accessible. Complementary approaches—somatic therapies, mindfulness, expressive arts, and peer support—can provide additional pathways to safety, grounding, and self-expression.
Living with PTSD is both deeply personal and profoundly isolating, but it is not a permanent sentence. Healing requires courage, patience, and trust—trust in yourself, in your therapist, in the people who support you. Over time, the past can feel less overwhelming, the triggers less paralyzing, and life more navigable. PTSD shapes experience, but it does not define who you are. With understanding, treatment, and sustained support, it is possible to reclaim safety, connection, and a sense of self—learning to live fully, even after what was once unbearable.