Whatever the cause for your PTSD, with treatment and support, you can learn to manage your symptoms, reduce painful memories, and move past the trauma.

• Re-experiencing the traumatic event through intrusive memories, flashbacks, nightmares, or intense mental or physical reactions when reminded of the trauma.
• Avoidance and numbing, such as avoiding anything that reminds you of the trauma, being unable to remember aspects of the ordeal, a loss of interest in activities and life in general, feeling emotionally numb and detached from others and a sense of a limited future.
• Hyperarousal, including sleep problems, irritability, hypervigilance (on constant “red alert”), feeling jumpy or easily startled, angry outbursts, and aggressive, self-destructive, or reckless behavior.
• Negative thought and mood changes like feeling alienated and alone, difficulty concentrating or remembering, depression and hopelessness, feeling mistrust and betrayal, and feeling guilt, shame, or self-blame.

In children – especially very young children – the symptoms of PTSD can differ from those of adults and may include:

• Fear of being separated from their parent
• Losing previously-acquired skills (such as toilet training)
• Sleep problems and nightmares
• Somber, compulsive play in which themes or aspects of the trauma are repeated
• New phobias and anxieties that seem unrelated to the trauma (such as fear of monsters)
• Acting out the trauma through play, stories, or drawings
• Aches and pains with no apparent cause
• Irritability and aggression