Who gets post-traumatic stress disorder?
The strict definition of PTSD is that the trauma you had or witnessed must be severe. For example: a severe accident, rape, a life-threatening assault, torture, seeing someone killed, etc. However, symptoms similar to PTSD develop in some people after less severe traumatic events. It is estimated that up to 1 in 10 people may develop PTSD at some stage in life. It is much more common in certain groups of people. For example, some studies have found that PTSD develops in about: • 1 in 5 fire-fighters. • 1 in 3 teenager survivors of car crashes. • 1 in 2 female rape victims. • 2 in 3 prisoners of war. What are the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder? • Recurring thoughts, memories, images, dreams, or ‘flashbacks’ of the trauma which are distressing. • You try to avoid thoughts, conversations, places, people, activities or anything which may trigger memories of the trauma as these make you distressed or anxious. • Feeling emotionally ‘numb’ and feeling ‘detached’ from others. You m
