Symptoms of PTSD

The startle response is one of the classic symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The diagnostic criteria are:

1.  The individual was exposed to a life threatening event or injury or a threat to one's physical integrity, and the individual's response involved intense fear,

helplessness, or horror.

2.  The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in one or more of the following ways:

          a.  recurrent and intrusive recollections of the traumatic event,

          b.  distressing dreams of the event,

          c.  feeling that the event is actually recurring again as evidence by

                       flashback episodes, illusions, and hallucinations,

          d.  intense psychological distress when exposed to symbols or cues

                      related  to the event,

          e.  a physiological reaction to the same symbols or cues in item d.

3.  Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the event and numbing of

general responsiveness not evident before the traumatic event, indicated by three or more of the following:

          a.  efforts to avoid feelings or thoughts associated with the traumatic

                       event,

          b.  efforts to avoid people, places, or activities that recall the event,

          c.  inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma,

          d.  diminished interest and participation in significant activities,

          e.  feeling of detachment or estrangement from others,

          f.  restricted range of affect (feelings limited),

          g.  sense of foreshortened future, pessimistic.

4.  Persistent symptoms of increased arousal not present before the traumatic

event, indicated by two or more of the following:

         a.  difficulty falling or staying asleep,

         b.  irritability or outbursts of anger,

         c.  difficulty concentrating,

         d.  hypervigilance,

         e.  exaggerated startle response.

5.  Duration of the disturbance for more that one month.

6.  The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social,

occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

PTSD is divided into acute and chronic types. PTSD is chronic if lasts more than

3 months. It can occur with delayed onset, meaning the symptoms begin six

months or longer after the event.

Abductee Jigsaw