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Symptoms of PTSD fall into three general categories:
1. Repeated "reliving" of the event, which disturbs day-to-day activity
- Recurrent distressing memories of the event
- Recurrent dreams of the event
- Flashback episodes, where the event seems to be recurring
- Bodily reactions to situations that remind them of the traumatic event
2. Avoidance
- Inability to remember important aspects of the trauma
- Lack of interest in normal activities
- Feelings of detachment
- Sense of having no future
- Emotional "numbing", or feeling as though they don’t care about anything
- Reduced expression of moods
- Staying away from places, people, or objects that remind them of the event
3. Arousal
- Irritability or outbursts of anger
- Sleeping difficulties
- Difficulty concentrating
- Exaggerated response to things that startle them
- Hypervigilance
Other symptoms that may be associated with this disease include a sense of guilt about the event (including "survivor guilt"), and the following symptoms, which are typical of anxiety, stress, and tension:
- Paleness
- Feeling your heart beat in your chest, called palpitations
- Headache
- Fever
- Fainting
- Dizziness
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Agitation, or excitability
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