Last reviewed: September 2026
What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
PTSD is a mental health condition that can develop after a traumatic event. Everyone’s experience is different: symptoms can begin soon after the event or emerge months or years later, and they can be constant or come and go over time.
It becomes a problem worth seeking help for when distressing thoughts, avoidance, or a heightened sense of threat persist for more than about four weeks and start to affect everyday life.
What causes PTSD?
PTSD can follow any event experienced as frightening, dangerous, or overwhelming, and where a person felt their safety, or someone else’s, was threatened. This might include a serious accident, violent crime, abuse, or repeated exposure to distressing situations through certain kinds of work, such as the armed forces or emergency services.
It’s not the event itself that determines who develops PTSD; people can be affected differently by similar experiences.
Common symptoms of PTSD
Symptoms of PTSD are usually grouped into three patterns.
Re-experiencing
- Flashbacks or vivid memories that feel like they’re happening again.
- Nightmares related to the event.
- Intense distress at reminders of what happened.
Avoidance
- Avoiding people, places, or situations that bring back memories.
- Avoiding talking about the event or pushing thoughts of it away.
- Feeling emotionally numb, cut off or withdrawn from others.
Hyperarousal
- Feeling constantly on edge or alert to danger.
- Being easily startled.
- Irritability, difficulty concentrating, or disrupted sleep.
What can help with PTSD?
A GP can refer you for treatment and support. You can also self-refer directly to an NHS talking therapies service without going through a GP first.
Trauma-focused talking therapies: trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) are the main recommended treatments. Both involve processing the traumatic memory with a trained therapist’s support, and are not something to attempt alone, as revisiting trauma without the right structure and pacing can be distressing.
Medication: antidepressants are sometimes used, usually if talking therapy alone hasn’t been enough or isn’t suitable, and are typically prescribed alongside therapy rather than instead of it.
Self-care, as a supplement to treatment: these steps don’t replace professional support, but some people find they help alongside it.
- Talking to someone you trust about how you’re feeling, when you’re ready to.
- Keeping a regular routine, including sleep.
- Noting what tends to trigger flashbacks or distress, such as certain sounds or situations.
- Gentle activity and time outdoors.
- Grounding techniques: if a flashback or intense memory arises, gently naming things you can currently see, hear, or touch can help bring attention back to the present moment.
Learn more about PTSD
- NHS overview of PTSD, symptoms, causes and treatment
- Mind’s information on PTSD and support options
- PTSD UK – UK charity dedicated to raising awareness and supporting people affected by PTSD
Get support with PTSD
Whatever you are going through, you are not alone.
Response can only support people who come to us through an NHS or local authority referral, so we’ve gathered helplines and organisations you can contact directly for support with your mental health, including services available 24/7.