Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presents with a collection of significant physical and psychological symptoms occurring after a traumatic experience. Symptoms usually occur immediately after the event but can also have a delayed onset of several months. Such symptoms are distressing and sometimes chronic, including:

• Intrusive recollections of the traumatic event, such as distressing thoughts and/or dreams.
• Avoidance and numbness, such as avoiding stimuli associated with the traumatic event and/or feeling withdrawn.
• Increased arousal, such as difficulty sleeping and/or anger outbursts.

In the US, the lifetime prevalence of PTSD is 6.8%. Underlying causes are theorized as psychological, biological or a combination. Treatment for PTSD is particularly controversial, usually comprising of psychological therapies. It is also a much debated diagnosis, with critics arguing that it medicalizes normal reactions to distressing events.

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