Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that's triggered by your memories of a traumatic event — an event that directly affected you or an event that you witnessed.

The disorder commonly affects survivors of traumatic events, such as sexual assault, physical assault, war, torture, a natural disaster, an automobile accident, an airplane crash, a hostage situation or a death camp. In addition, the affliction can affect rescue workers at the site of an airplane crash or a mass shooting or can affect someone who witnessed a tragic accident.

Not everyone involved in a traumatic event experiences post-traumatic stress disorder. The disorder is twice as common in women as it is in men.

Treatment may involve a combined approach including medications and behavior therapies designed to help you gain control of your anxiety.

• Anxiety
• Depression

Screening and diagnosis

Your doctor or mental health professional likely will ask you to describe the signs and symptoms you're experiencing — what they are, when they occur, how intense they are and how long they last. This will help your doctor or therapist learn more about your condition. Your doctor may also ask you to describe the event that triggered your symptoms to try to get a sense of how intense the event was and how it affected you. You may encounter some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatic event, but you may not necessarily have a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Diagnosing the condition requires that the symptoms have been present longer than one month.

Complications

Having post-traumatic stress disorder may place you at a higher risk of:

• Depression, which has many of the same signs and symptoms as post-traumatic stress disorder

• Drug abuse

• Alcohol abuse

• Eating disorders

• Divorce