Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Explains what post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.
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What can cause PTSD?
The situations we find traumatic can vary from person to person. There are many different harmful or life-threatening events that might cause someone to develop PTSD. For example:
- being involved in a car crash
- being raped or sexually assaulted
- being abused, harassed or bullied - including racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia or transphobia, and other types of abuse targeting your identity
- being kidnapped, held hostage or any event in which you fear for your life
- experiencing violence, including military combat, a terrorist attack, or any violent assault
- seeing other people hurt or killed, including in the course of your job (sometimes called secondary trauma)
- doing a job where you repeatedly see or hear distressing things, such as working in the emergency services or armed forces
- surviving a natural disaster, such as flooding, earthquakes or pandemics, such as the coronavirus pandemic
- traumatic childbirth as a mother, or as a partner witnessing a traumatic birth
- losing someone close to you in particularly upsetting circumstances
- being sectioned or getting treatment in a mental health ward
- being diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.
I was mugged then about a year later I was on the Tube when the police were trying to arrest someone who had a gun. In neither experience was I physically injured – although in the second one I thought I was going to die and that I was going to see lots of other people die.
Are some people more at risk of PTSD?
Some factors may make you more vulnerable to developing PTSD, or may make the problems you experience more severe, including:
- experiencing repeated trauma
- getting physically hurt or feeling pain
- having little or no support from friends, family or professionals
- dealing with extra stress at the same time, such as bereavement, money worries, racism, seeking asylum, homelessness or spending time in prison
- previously experiencing anxiety or depression.
If you experienced trauma at an early age or you have experienced long-lasting or multiple traumas, you might be given a diagnosis of complex PTSD.
I was diagnosed by my GP with PTSD a few weeks after the death of my father who died very suddenly, following a family outing to the local pub for lunch. He collapsed in front of us and we had to administer CPR at the scene while waiting for the ambulance. He died later on the way to hospital.
Anyone can experience traumatic events, but you may be particularly likely to have experienced trauma if you:
- work in a high-risk occupation, such as the emergency services or armed forces
- are a refugee or asylum seeker
- were taken into foster care.
This information was published in January 2021. We will revise it in 2024.
References and bibliography available on request.
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