What are the typical symptoms of PTSD?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop after a person experiences or witnesses something deeply frightening or overwhelming. It happens when the mind and body stay stuck in survival mode, even long after the danger has passed.

PTSD is often reduced to flashbacks but it is much more than that.

1️⃣ INTRUSION symptoms
These are moments when the trauma returns without warning.
Flashbacks, unwanted memories, or distressing dreams can make a person feel as if the event is happening all over again. Sometimes even small reminders a sound, a smell, a place can trigger intense emotional or physical reactions like fear, panic, or a racing heart.

2️⃣ AVOIDANCE symptoms
To cope with the pain, many people begin avoiding anything connected to the trauma. This may mean avoiding certain places, conversations, colors, smell, or even their own thoughts and feelings. Over time, this can look like emotional numbness, loss of interest in things once enjoyed, memory gaps, feeling disconnected from others, or a sense that the future feels uncertain or cut short.

3️⃣ INCREASED AROUSAL and ALERTNESS
For many, the body never truly relaxes. Sleep becomes difficult, irritability increases, and the nervous system stays constantly alert. Being easily startled, always “on edge,” and remaining hyper vigilance or scanning for danger are common experiences.

To meet diagnostic criteria, at least one intrusion symptom must be present but the impact of PTSD is far broader than any checklist.