It is normal to feel shaken after a terrifying event — an accident, an assault, a natural disaster, or the sudden loss of someone close. For most people, intense reactions fade within weeks. When they persist for more than a month and intrude on daily life, the condition may be post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

What PTSD feels like

• Re-experiencing: flashbacks, nightmares, and intense distress when reminded of the event.
• Avoidance: steering clear of places, people, or topics that trigger memories.
• Hypervigilance: being constantly on guard, easily startled, irritable, and struggling to sleep.
• Mood changes: feeling numb, detached, or unable to trust, sometimes with memory gaps around the event.

Why the brain reacts this way

After trauma, the brain’s fear system stays primed — the alarm that should only ring during danger keeps ringing. This is not weakness or a moral failing; it is the stress system doing its job too well, for too long. Understanding this helps survivors stop blaming themselves.

Treatment works

Trauma-focused therapies — including trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) — are well supported by evidence and can be delivered in a modest number of sessions. Medication can help with associated depression and sleep problems. Recovery means the alarm system learns, gradually, that the danger has passed.

What helps after trauma

• Return to routine and normal activities as soon as you can manage.
• Reach out to trusted people; isolation worsens symptoms.
• Limit alcohol and avoid using substances to numb memories.
• Ask a professional about trauma-focused therapy if symptoms last beyond a month.

If you have experienced trauma, please know that healing is possible, and seeking help is a sensible, brave step.