Many people in Indiana might have heard references in news stories or other conversations about a condition commonly referred to as PTSD. The official name of this syndrome is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The PTSD Alliance indicates that signs of this condition were evidenced as early as the 1800s but it was not until the 1980s that the problem was officially recognized as a medical condition. 

It is believed that as many as seven million people in the United States experience or struggle with PTSD. As many as eight percent of adults may develop the condition over the course of their lifetime. While individual scenarios may be unique, people with PTSD share one thing and that is the fact that they have experienced firsthand some sort of traumatic or extraordinarily stressful events.

The American Psychiatric Association explains that PTSD symptoms may not be evident immediately after the original event but take months or years to display. Problems can be both emotional and physical and can last for a short time, like one month, or for multiple months or years. PTSD can impede a person’s ability to function properly in daily life and even prevent them from being able to work.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is commonly associated with people in the military who have lived through or witnessed the horrors of war. It is, however, not uncommon for people who have never served in the military to develop PTSD. PTSD patients may also have problems with their memory, struggle with substance abuse or live with depression.