Transcript
PTSD is a mental health disorder.
So, it's not a medical illness like a virus.
You don't get it from being around someone who has it.
You don't get it because both of your parents had it.
It can only happen to you
if you've been through a traumatic event,
so something like going into combat
or being a victim of assault or abuse
or having a really serious accident.
And when someone goes through a traumatic event,
it's almost inevitable that they're going to struggle.
They're going to have nightmares.
They're going to have a hard time
when they think about and remember the event.
They're going to avoid reminders of it.
They might have trouble sleeping.
But for most people, these symptoms go away
in one, two, three months.
People recover naturally on their own.
But for a smaller proportion of people,
these symptoms don't go away on their own.
They keep going.
And the mind and the body sort of gets stuck
and they're not able to move past the trauma.
And so, you're thinking a lot about the trauma
and your body is reacting
almost like you're still experiencing the trauma
or that it could happen again at any moment.
And when these symptoms persist
and they get in the way of your life, this is PTSD.