posttraumatic stress disorder

Scientific  

/ pōst′trô-măt′ĭk,-trou- /

1. A psychological disorder affecting individuals who have experienced or witnessed profoundly traumatic events, such as torture, murder, rape, or wartime combat, characterized by recurrent flashbacks of the traumatic event, nightmares, irritability, anxiety, fatigue, forgetfulness, and social withdrawal.

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posttraumatic stress disorder Cultural  

1. A psychological disorder in which a person continues to respond with distress to a traumatic event long after that event has occurred. The affected person may reexperience the event in their thoughts or dreams and exhibit a heightened state of arousal characteristic of extreme stress. Combat and rape are two of the most common causes of this disorder.

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PTSD was formalized as a disorder after the Vietnam War, when returning soldiers would often continue to show the signs of stress long after they had left the military.

Example Sentences

Defense attorneys have argued that Zack suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and posttraumatic stress disorder, which make Zack impulsive and cause him to be under constant emotional and mental distress.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 17, 2023

Researchers also tried rTMS in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, tinnitus, and chronic pain.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 29, 2017

Bruised brains trigger "persistent stress-hormone releases" that can cause posttraumatic stress disorder.

From Time • Aug. 22, 2010

That concern drove Culpepper to help develop the M3, a single-page checklist that takes less than 10 minutes to complete and that flags depression, bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders.

From Newsweek • Apr. 13, 2010

The nightmare of those years, says Psychologist Jeanne Nidorf of the University of California at San Diego, produces a "posttraumatic stress disorder that just doesn't go away."

From Time Magazine Archive