Checklist: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
People struggling with PTSD develop symptoms after experiencing a traumatic event in which their lives were at risk, such as accidents, war, rape, crime, natural disasters, and other similar events. Or, their symptoms developed after they witnessed or experienced an event in which someone else’s life was at risk.
Traumatic stress disorder
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People who are diagnosed with PTSD experience three different types of symptoms:
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1. Reliving or reexperiencing the traumatic event
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2. Avoiding situations, thoughts, and activating events related to the trauma
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3. Experiencing increased distress levels as a result of the trauma
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PTSD is diagnosed when a person has experienced these symptoms for longer than one month. If a person experiences these symptoms immediately after a trauma or for less than one month, a diagnosis of acute stress disorder would be made. Acute stress disorder shares many of the same symptoms as PTSD and the treatment is often similar.
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These symptoms greatly interfere with a person’s life:
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Having recurring thoughts, memories, or dreams about the event
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Having recurring thoughts, memories, or dreams about the event
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Experiencing physical, emotional, or psychological distress when you see or hear things that remind you of the event
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Avoiding thoughts, emotions, or conversations related to the trauma
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Avoiding people, places, or events that might trigger memories of the traum
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Avoiding activities that the person enjoyed or participated in before the trauma
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Avoiding certain emotions, especially pleasant emotions
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Avoid thinking about or planning for the future, often due to the thought that life won’t last very long
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Inexplicable avoidance of memories related to the trauma
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Feeling easily annoyed or angry
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Being unable to sleep soundly or comfortably
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Being unable to think clearly
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Feeling constantly alert, as if waiting for something to happen
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Being easily startled or frightened
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