What are the 5 Signs of PTSD?

5 Key Signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) means living every day with an invisible struggle. PTSD generally affects anyone and impacts their personal life, including their relationship to regular activities. Well, the first step of healing from PTSD is to identify the signs and then seek medical care.

So, scroll down to have a detailed understanding of the five key signs of PTSD and risk factors and resilience for healing.  

Overview of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD is a mental health condition that occurs in people who have experienced terrifying or stressful events. People may naturally feel fear after a traumatic situation, which can turn into a life-threatening situation for their emotional and physical well-being. In 2024, the WHO reported that 3.9% of the global population was estimated to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder in their lives.  

5 Key Signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

There are a few common symptoms to recognise since individuals can experience different symptoms. Some of them are discussed in detail below:

1. Reliving What Happened

People with PTSD may experience intense distress while recalling traumatic memories and distressing dreams. It includes:

• Feeling like the past traumatic event is happening right now
• Intrusive images or thoughts
• Physical sensations like sweating, pain, trembling or nausea
• Intense distress at the reminder of the event
• Nightmares  

2. Vivid Flashbacks

Vivid flashbacks are another sign of PTSD that can disrupt daily life. A person with PTSD may experience the following:

• Seeing a partial or full visualisation of what happened  
• Feeling discomfort or pressurisation
• Noticing sounds or other facts connected to traumatised events
• Emotional breakdown from feeling a traumatic situation

3. Alertness or Feeling on Edge

The feeling of being “on edge” is another sign of PTSD, which does not allow the patients to relax due to increased anxiety. This may include:

• Being suddenly angry or upset
• Panicking while recalling the trauma
• Hypervigilance, the feeling of extreme alertness
• Aggressive behaviour
• Sleeping difficulties
• Finding it hard to concentrate on regular, simple tasks
• Easily startled

4. Avoiding Memories or Feeling

People with PTSD start avoiding activities, places, or feelings that remind them of past events as a key sign. This can involve:

• Trying to be busy
• Being unable to recall details of past events
• Emotionally numb
• Physically detached from feelings and the interest in doing anything
• Unable to express their own words or affection
• Doing reckless or self-destructive things
• Using drugs and alcohol to avoid memories

5. Difficult Feelings or Beliefs

Difficulties in brief or feeling are another sign of PTSD that brings negative changes in mood and thinking, including:

• Not trust anyone
• A feeling of not being safe anywhere
• Misunderstood everyone
• Self-blaming
• Overwhelming feelings of sadness, shame and anger

Risk Factors for PTSD

No one can predict who will suffer from PTSD, but this psychiatric condition is more likely to occur in those who have experienced:

• Childhood trauma
• Traumatic situations, such as sexual assault, accident, disaster, etc
• Injury during a past event
• Extreme fear, helplessness or feeling of horror  
• Poor social support or interaction
• Regularly using substances

Post-traumatic stress disorder is quite a serious mental health condition. People who have experienced childhood trauma or any traumatic events are more likely to develop PTSD. Reliving past events of trauma, flashbacks, feeling "on edge", avoidance of feelings, and negative changes in beliefs and thinking are some potential signs of PTSD. If you are facing such issues, do not hesitate to consult a doctor.