Coping With
Post-traumatic
Stress

Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress

Many trauma survivors find themselves reexperiencing the trauma in their mind. Survivors usually can't control this or stop it from occurring. The consequences may include:

• Flashbacks—feelings that the trauma is happening again

• Bad dreams and nightmares

• A tendency to be very startled by loud noises or by someone unexpectedly coming up to them from behind

• A shaky feeling and sweatiness

• A pounding heart or trouble breathing

• A feeling of upset when reminded of the trauma by something seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted

• Anxiety or fear—the feeling of being in danger again

• Trouble controlling emotions because reminders lead to sudden anxiety, anger, or upset

• Difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly

• Difficulty falling or staying asleep

• Agitation and a constant state of being on the lookout for danger

• An emotional shutdown or emotional numbness

• Trouble having loving feelings or feeling any strong emotions

• The feeling that surroundings are strange or unreal

• Loss of interest in things that were previously enjoyable

• Trouble remembering important parts of what happened during the trauma

• A feeling of being disconnected from the world around them and the things happening to them