Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event such as combat, natural disasters like a tornado or earthquake, serious accidents, or physical attacks and abuse. Events such as these can cause great emotional upset, including extreme fear and feeling like you have no control over the situation.

It is normal for anyone who experiences a traumatic event to show changes in emotions and behavior. While these changes can be quite upsetting at the onset, these reactions generally lessen with time. If these changes last longer than three months, however, disrupt your work and family life, or cause great emotional distress, you may need to seek professional help.

Symptoms of PTSD can begin immediately after the traumatic event, or they may not show up for several months. For many, activities in the days following an event may mask the symptoms until the person gets back into the normal routine of work and family.

The symptoms of PTSD can be different for each person. Some may be there all the time, while other symptoms may only occur when triggered by something in the person’s environment. The most common symptoms are:

Any or all of these symptoms can have huge impacts on a person’s quality of life. They can result in problems sleeping, unemployment, addiction issues, physical illnesses and relationship problems.

Just as the symptoms can vary greatly, the triggers of PTSD are often different for each person. They can include anything from a barking dog, to fireworks or passing the scene of a car accident.

If you believe that you may suffer from PTSD, it can be important to pay attention to things in the environment that may trigger acute feelings of PTSD. And if you don’t, chances are, your family will. Immediate family members of affected persons with PTSD often start to show similar symptoms themselves.

It’s not that the family member has gone through a traumatic event. It’s that they recognize the triggers that affect the affected person. Their symptoms come from the fact that they are bracing themselves for how the person is going to react to the situation. Family members often try to lessen the impact of triggers by changing their own behavior. An example of this is when a spouse stands between the person affected and other people in a crowded room, or in the checkout line at the grocery store.