PTSD shows up after a frightening or life-changing event. If you keep reliving the event, avoid reminders, have jumpiness or negative thoughts that won’t go away, you could be dealing with PTSD. These symptoms can come weeks, months, or even years after the trauma.
Flashbacks or nightmares that feel real.
Avoiding places, people, or thoughts that remind you of what happened.
Strong, sudden reactions to loud noises or surprises (hypervigilance).
Feeling numb, detached, or losing interest in activities you used to enjoy.
Persistent negative beliefs about yourself or the world, like “I’m unsafe” or “I can’t trust anyone.”
If you’re in immediate danger or thinking about harming yourself, call emergency services or your local crisis line now. If not in crisis but struggling, try these quick steps:
1) Grounding: Use the 5-4-3-2-1 trick—name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste. It helps your brain move out of the flashback.
2) Controlled breathing: Breathe in for 4 counts, hold 4, breathe out 6. Do this for two minutes to calm your nervous system.
3) Reduce substances: Alcohol and drugs can make symptoms worse over time. If you’re using them to cope, mention it to your doctor.
4) Sleep hygiene: Go to bed and wake up at the same time, limit screens before bed, and use a simple wind-down routine.
Seeking professional care makes a real difference. Trauma-focused therapies—like Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)—are backed by research and help people reduce symptoms and reclaim daily life. Medications such as certain SSRIs (for example, sertraline or paroxetine) can help with mood and anxiety; talk to a prescriber about options and side effects. For nightmares, clinicians sometimes consider prazosin—ask your doctor about risks and benefits.
How to find help: ask your primary care doctor for a referral, contact a local mental health clinic, or search for therapists who list "trauma" or "EMDR" on their profiles. Many clinics offer telehealth sessions. Peer support groups—online or in person—also help you feel less alone while you work on recovery.
Recovery takes time and looks different for everyone. Track one small win each week—less staring at your phone after a trigger, one short walk, or a phone call to someone who understands. Those small moves add up. If you want, use our site search to find more articles, medication guides, and practical tips related to PTSD and managing trauma symptoms.
As a business owner, I'm deeply concerned about the mental well-being of employees. Through this blog post, I delve into the issue of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the workplace. It's an issue that often flies under the radar, but deserves our attention. We'll look at how it affects employees, and importantly, how we as employers can provide the necessary support. Mental wellness in the workplace is not just beneficial, it's necessary for a healthy and productive work environment.