PTSD Directory
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that is triggered by an event such as violence, a car accident, a natural disaster, and more. It can affect one person or a group of people. In soldiers, it has sometimes been called "shell shock." Symptoms include flashbacks, emotional detachment, jumpiness, and more. PTSD can make working and maintaining relationships very difficult. PTSD treatments include talk therapy, exposure therapy, medications, and more. Follow the links below to find WebMD's comprehensive coverage about what causes PTSD, how to treat it, and much more.
Medical Reference
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental condition that requires treatment. WebMD explains causes, symptoms, and treatment.
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Cancer-Related Post-traumatic Stress (PDQ®): Supportive care - Patient Information [NCI]-Treatment of Cancer-Related Post-traumatic Stress (PTS)
As many as one third of people who experience an extremely upsetting event, including cancer, develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The event alone does not explain why some people get PTSD and others don't. Although there is no clear answer as to which cancer survivors are at increased risk of developing PTSD, certain mental, physical, or social factors may make some people more likely to experience it. Individual and social factors Individual and social factors that have been associated with a higher incidence of PTSD include younger age, fewer years of formal education, and lower income. Disease-related factorsCertain disease-related factors are associated with PTSD: In patients who received a bone marrow transplant, PTSD occurs more often when there is advanced disease and a longer hospital stay.In adult survivors of bone cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma, people for whom more time has passed since diagnosis and treatment tended to show fewer symptoms.In survivors of childhood
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Cancer-Related Post-traumatic Stress (PDQ®): Supportive care - Patient Information [NCI]-Screening for Cancer-Related Post-traumatic Stress (PTS)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as the development of certain symptoms following a mentally stressful event that involved actual death or the threat of death, serious injury, or a threat to oneself or others. For the person who has experienced a diagnosis of cancer, the specific trauma that triggers PTSD is unclear. It may be the actual diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, aspects of the treatment process, test results, information given about recurrence, or some other aspect of the cancer experience. Learning that one's child has cancer is traumatic for many parents. Because the cancer experience involves so many upsetting events, it is much more difficult to single out one event as a cause of stress than it is for other traumas, such as natural disasters or rape. The traumatic event may cause responses of extreme fear, helplessness, or horror and may trigger PTSD symptoms. PTSD in cancer survivors may be expressed in these specific behaviors:Reliving the cancer
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Cancer-Related Post-traumatic Stress (PDQ®): Supportive care - Patient Information [NCI]-Current Clinical Trials
It is important that cancer patients undergo a careful assessment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) so that early symptoms may be identified and treated. The timing of this assessment will vary with the individual patient. Cancer is an experience of repeated traumas and undetermined length. The patient may experience stress symptoms anytime from diagnosis through completion of treatment and cancer recurrence. In patients who have a history of victimization (such as Holocaust survivors) and who have PTSD or its symptoms from these experiences, symptoms can be started again by certain triggers experienced during their cancer treatment (for example, clinical procedures such as being inside MRI or CT scanners). While these patients may have problems adjusting to cancer and cancer treatment, their PTSD symptoms may vary, depending on other factors. The symptoms may become more or less prevalent during and after the cancer treatment. Symptoms of PTSD usually begin within the first 3
Features
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The American Psyche, Post-9/11
How well have we healed since the events of Sept. 11, 2001? Are we suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, or have we 'gotten over it' and moved on? The experts say that most of us fall somewhere in between. And for those still struggling, help is available...
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The Link Between Trauma and Binge Eating
PSTD is common among those with binge eating disorder. Learn how the two conditions are connected and treated.