What are the PTSD Symptoms?

Dr. Haytham Mansour

3 Jul, 2024

PTSD symptoms can differ based on the type of trauma you experienced. What is traumatic for you may not be for others. Not everyone will react or experience the same symptoms after a traumatic event.

What are the PTSD Symptoms?

In truth, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) do not require actual trauma experience. You may get symptoms after hearing about another person's knowledge or being repeatedly exposed to specifics of a traumatic event.

Police officers and first responders, for example, may be exposed to violent and abusive situations regularly, which may lead to the development of PTSD symptoms.

Every year, approximately 3.5% of adults in the United States have symptoms of PTSD, and 7 or 8 out of every 100 people will develop PTSD at some point in their lives. This illness can be managed and healed with proper therapy and assistance.

The signs and symptoms of PTSD.

To be diagnosed with PTSD, a teenager or adult must have:

Traumatic events might be experienced directly or indirectly.
Symptoms that last for one month or more.
Significant distress or impairment in functioning, including relationships, job, and cognitive.

Additionally, the DSM-5 has established the following criteria:

One or more intrusive symptoms are related to the traumatic experience.
Constant avoidance of anything associated with the terrible experience.
Significant changes in mood or cognition following the stressful experience.
Significant responsiveness and attentiveness.

These symptoms are only classified as PTSD symptoms if they have a major influence on your relationships, everyday activities, or work.

People from different cultures may experience PTSD in different ways due to varying notions of what it means to be upset. If any of the symptoms are culturally acceptable, they may not be considered for diagnosis.

Intrusion symptoms of PTSD.

Intrusion symptoms are typically unwelcome, recurring, and involuntary experiences. You may have one or more intrusive symptoms for at least one month following the traumatic event. This is necessary for a mental health professional to make a PTSD diagnosis.

Intrusion symptoms include:

Distressing memories of the occurrence.
Dreams or nightmares concerning the event, as well as emotional responses to it.
Dissociative reactions occur on a spectrum and range from flashbacks to brief loss of awareness of your surroundings.
Extreme distress when exposed to anything that mimics or represents the event.

Everyone experiences unwanted ideas from time to time. However, with PTSD, these ideas produce extreme distress and may trigger memories of the traumatic experience.

These thoughts can manifest in recollections, dreams, or flashbacks. Your thoughts may recreate the event itself or symbolize significant threats that existed. They may also incorporate brief sights, sounds, or other sensory stimuli. In some situations, they may cause you to lose all awareness of your surroundings.

Intrusive thoughts might be especially powerful if you are exposed to a trigger that causes you to recall specific details of the traumatic incident.

Avoidance signs of PTSD.

It's natural to desire to avoid anything that reminds you of the unpleasant incident. A mental health practitioner will investigate the occurrence of one or both of the following symptoms:

A concerted effort to avoid memories, thoughts, or feelings associated with the event.
A concerted effort to avoid locations, people, events, circumstances, or discussions concerning what occurred.

To avoid psychological distress, you might want to avoid anything that is directly or indirectly related to the traumatic experience. For example, you may want to avoid the restaurant you went to many hours before the distressing event occurred.

While it is normal to want to avoid things that make you unhappy, doing so might make life more difficult. Not wanting to do things and not being able to explain why can put a strain on your professional and social life.

Changes in ideas and mood.

Following a traumatic occurrence, your perception of yourself and your life may shift. The things you tell yourself about your surroundings may also alter. For a PTSD diagnosis, two or more of these symptoms must be persistently present for a month or more:

Not remembering crucial portions of the event or forgetting the event entirely (dissociative amnesia).
Extremely negative beliefs about oneself, others, and the world at large.
Exaggerated guilt and self-blame are primarily the result of cognitive biases.
Extremely unpleasant feelings, such as horror and terror.
Significantly reduced interest in interacting and engaging in your typical activities.
Feeling alienated from others.
An incapacity to enjoy things or experience happy emotions.

PTSD can make you more susceptible to negativity than usual. It can also change how you feel about yourself, others, or the world around you. Depending on what happened, you may believe that you are not capable of making decisions or that you should never trust anyone again. You may also begin to wonder if there was anything you might have done differently to avoid the trauma.

Reactive symptoms of PTSD.

Following a traumatic occurrence, you may notice changes in how you respond to particular situations. These symptoms may develop after the incident and then intensify. At least two of the symptoms listed below must be present:

Irritable conduct and unwarranted rage, which may manifest as physical or verbal outbursts.
habits that could jeopardize your safety.
Being hyperaware or watchful of your surroundings.
Exaggerated reactions occur when you are surprised.
It is tough to concentrate and focus on any task.
Sleep patterns vary.

The ability to recognize hazards is part of our survival instinct. If you have PTSD, you may realize that you are more alert to potential hazards than usual. You might even notice risks where you previously did not.

How is PTSD diagnosed?

Because we all have varied life experiences and react differently, PTSD does not appear the same for everyone.

For example, a person who has been in a major vehicle accident may have different PTSD symptoms than someone who has been injured in military action.

Only certified healthcare practitioners may diagnose PTSD. They frequently follow DSM-5 criteria.

There are no lab tests to diagnose PTSD, but your doctor may request one to rule out any physical disorders that could be causing your symptoms.

A mental health specialist will also want to discuss your worries, medical and personal history, current events, and symptoms.

They will want to know if you have directly experienced, witnessed, learned about, or been exposed to any traumatic events, as well as whether your symptoms are related to this experience.

Because what is traumatic for one person may not be for another, mental health practitioners are taught to comprehend each person's distinct experiences and feelings.

Treatment Options for PTSD.

There are various treatments available for PTSD. However, the speed at which you recover will be determined by a variety of circumstances. It could last between three and twenty-four months.

To treat PTSD, health providers typically combine psychotherapy and medicines. PTSD has been treated using several types of psychotherapy, including:

Trauma-focused treatment.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing)
Prolonged exposure therapy (PE).
PTSD symptoms can be managed with medications such as paroxetine (Paxil) and sertraline (Zoloft).

Note read more about 7 strategies for helping someone have PTSD.

Finally, PTSD is a difficult and complex mental health illness to cope with. Its symptoms can have a significant impact on many elements of your life, and they typically last a month or more. Seeking expert help can assist you in managing these symptoms and improving all elements of your life that have been damaged by PTSD.

Dr. Haytham Mansour

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