post-traumatic stress disorder

Definition

A psychological condition that develops following some stressful situation or event, with symptoms such as sleep disturbance, recurrent dreams, flashbacks, hypervigilance, depression, dissociation, withdrawal or a lack of concentration.

Example Sentences

• "That 200,000 public school students have been identified with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder since Sept. 11 should serve as a wake-up call for school-based mental health services for all students. We must not allow Sept. 11 to eclipse the post-traumatic stress disorders suffered by students from epidemics of H.I.V.-AIDS and community and domestic violence."
• "The evidence says that enormous numbers of children who live in households in high-crime neighborhoods are experiencing the psychological equivalent of battlefield conditions.[...]Studies show that many children who live under these conditions, 30 percent or more, are developing post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, similar to what we used to call “shell shock” in soldiers returning from war."
• "An example of the contract, read out in the committee said: “I understand that exposure to this content may give me post traumatic stress disorder. I will engage in a mandatory wellness coaching session but I understand that those are not conditions and may not be sufficient to prevent my contracting PTSD.”"