Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Introduction

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although long described in the combat literature, was first recognised in the official psychiatric nomenclature in DSM-III. The disorder develops in the aftermath of a traumatic event, and in DSM-IV is conceptualised in terms of three symptom clusters - re-experiencing of the event (such as flashbacks and nightmares), avoidance and numbing symptoms (including memory symptoms), and hyperarousal (startle response, insomnia).