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Traumatic experiences that can lead to a person developing PTSD can be events like:

• An accident, such as being in a car crash
• A serious injury, such as getting stuck in a burning home and suffering injuries from the fire
• Experiencing abuse, such as emotional, physical, or sexual abuse by someone you know or a stranger
• Being a victim of a crime, such as getting held at gunpoint in a store
• A life-threatening event, such as almost drowning or being in an airplane that was having emergency engine problems

A person can develop PTSD if they directly experience a traumatic event, meaning that the trauma happens directly to them. However, sometimes, witnessing the event or hearing about a traumatic event happening to someone else, like a family member or a friend, can cause someone to develop PTSD.

It’s normal to feel afraid, nervous, or sad after going through a traumatic event, but if a person continues to have problems—and experience PTSD symptoms—for more than 1 month after the traumatic event happened, then this indicates that the person may have PTSD.

Signs or symptoms of PTSD include:

• Thinking about the traumatic event all the time and feeling scared or sad when thinking about it.
• Nightmares about the event, which occur weekly or sometimes several days every week.
• Feeling like the traumatic event is happening again (this is also called flashbacks) even though the person is safe and away from harm.
• Becoming sad or scared when thinking about the traumatic event or when exposed to something that is a reminder of the event. For example, the smell of smoke from a barbecue could cause a person who was stuck in their home during a fire to become very anxious and afraid.
• Trying to not think about the traumatic event and avoiding anything that reminds the person of the event.
• Avoiding people, places, or things that are reminders of the event.
• Difficulty remembering all or parts of the traumatic event.
• Having negative beliefs, like thinking the world is dangerous and no one can be trusted.
• The person blames themselves for the traumatic event happening.
• Isolating from loved ones and friends.
• Feeling like they can’t emotionally connect with or get close to anyone.
• Anger outbursts.
• Doing risky or life-threatening things, like driving fast or other activities that could cause serious injury or death.
• Being constantly aware of surroundings due to fear of something bad happening.
• Getting scared easily, such as jumping at hearing a loud noise.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Difficulty falling and/or staying asleep.

PTSD is a condition that can affect your ability to focus on school, study, and have healthy relationships with other people if it’s left untreated. There are many different treatments that can help people with PTSD heal and recover, such as medications and counseling.