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Introduction

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety response to a life-threatening event.  It is characterized by reexperience of trauma, a negative mood, avoidance, and hyperarousal.  Symptoms must persist for more than a month and cause significant functional impairment.

Epidemiology and risk factors

The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD is 2%, and the majority of people exposed to a traumatic event do not develop PTSD.  PTSD is more common in women, which may be partly related to a higher likelihood of exposure to interpersonal trauma (eg, rape, intimate partner violence).

Risk factors that may increase the development of PTSD after trauma exposure include:

  • Severity of trauma (eg, significant physical injury, prolonged duration of exposure)
  • Close proximity to trauma (eg, self vs relative/witness)

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Tables

Table 1