Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is the response the nervous system cannot close after a traumatic event. The threat has passed, but the brain keeps acting as if it is still happening: flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance of everything that recalls the event, and constant activation of the alarm system. It is not weakness: it is the survival system stuck.
Concept origin
Although described in war veterans since the 19th century, PTSD was formalized in DSM-III (1980) after the Vietnam War. Bessel van der Kolk ("The Body Keeps the Score," 2014) documented how trauma is stored in the body, not just in thoughts. DSM-5 relocated it to the category of Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders.
How it manifests
- ▸ Involuntary re-experiencing (flashbacks) of the traumatic event
- ▸ Recurrent nightmares related to the trauma
- ▸ Intense avoidance of people, places, or thoughts that recall it
- ▸ Constant hyperactivation: startle responses, irritability, sleep difficulty
Therapeutic approach
Treatments with the most evidence are EMDR (Shapiro), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Prolonged Exposure (PE). All three work on processing unintegrated traumatic material. Somatic therapies (Somatic Experiencing, Levine) address the bodily dimension of trauma.
Related concepts
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