How do you know you have PTSD?
A diagnosis of PTSD is usually made when four symptom clusters come together. The first is that event itself took place. The second cluster is the experience of intrusive memories, thoughts, nightmares and/or flashbacks of the event. The third cluster has to do with trying to avoid thinking about or remembering the event. People may try to avoid situations that might remind them about the event, and they tend to feel emotionally constricted or numb and avoid social contact. The fourth cluster has to do with how the body responds physically. People develop what psychiatrists call chronic hyperarousal, which means they are chronically anxious, jumpy, irritable and experience panic attacks and disturbed sleep.
What kind of events can lead to PTSD?
Clinicians who work in the trauma field divide traumatic experiences—somewhat artificially—into single-event trauma and chronic traumatization. Single-event trauma can be something like an automobile accident or being caught in a hurricane. Of course, even among single-event traumas, there are things that are less traumatic or more traumatic. In general, events that cause intrusive bodily harm, such as being raped, are more traumatic. It's not only physically painful and intrusive, but it's intentionally aggressive, sadistic and exploitive.
Certain kinds of chronic traumatization are almost universally damaging. Ongoing traumatization usually includes some kind of captivity, either physical or psychological. Examples include domestic battering, ongoing child abuse and certain kinds of wartime situations such as being a prisoner of war or being tortured.
