PTSD

These days PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a fairly well-known phrase and you would be forgiven for thinking it’s a new condition. But it isn’t.

PTSD has been around for hundreds of years. In fact, whilst researching for this article, I read that the first documented case of psychological distress, may have been as early as 1900 BCE!

Amongst other names, PTSD has also been known as Shell Shock, Combat Stress and War Neurosis.

All of these names suggest that PTSD is reserved for the armed forces, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, PTSD is a lasting, adverse effect of a person’s response to a traumatic situation and as such can be experienced by anyone.

When a traumatic event happens, your subconscious will take over and you will enter ‘fight or flight’ mode. Fuelled by adrenaline, your brain will take actions to protect you – whether instinctively or as the result of specialist training.

Later, when the danger has passed, your brain needs to process the event and develop a ‘memory’ of what happened. However, for some people that processing doesn’t happen as it should and eventually leads to PTSD.