What are the common symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

When people have PTSD, they can find themselves reliving aspects of what happened. This can take the form of flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive memories and thoughts. During reliving, high distress is often experienced with accompanying physical sensations such as pain, sweating and nausea. When people have PTSD they can experience feelings of hyperarousal, constantly feeling alert or on edge. They may be hypervigilant and easily startled, have disturbed sleep, experience increased irritability, have difficulties concentrating and may be easily upset. Avoidance is a common symptom of PTSD where people try to avoid feelings or memories. This can include avoiding anything that serves as a reminder of the trauma, being unable to remember the details of the trauma, feeling emotionally or physically numb or detached, keeping busy all the time, using alcohol or drugs and engaging in self-destructive behaviours. When people have PTSD, they can have difficult beliefs or feelings – they may no longer feel safe in the world and feel that they can’t trust other people, they can feel very alone and that no one understands. They may blame themselves and have overwhelming feelings of guilt, anger and shame.