What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

Many Americans experience individual traumatic events ranging from car and airplane accidents to sexual assault and domestic violence. Other experiences, including those associated with natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes, affect multiple people simultaneously.

Dramatic and tragic events, like the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and wars occur, and with media exposure such as we have today, even people not directly involved might be affected. Simply put, PTSD is a state in which you "can't stop remembering."

Some of the following symptoms may be signs you are experiencing PTSD:

·feeling upset by things that remind you of what happened
·recalling an emotional event that seems to be happening all over again
·feeling emotionally cut off from others
·feeling numb or losing interest in things you used to care about
·becoming depressed
·thinking that you are always in danger
·feeling anxious, jittery, or irritated
·experiencing a sense of panic that something bad is about to happen
·having difficulty sleeping
·having trouble keeping your mind on one thing