rs of war, abuse and rape. It also occurs after assorted crime and car accidents, as well as after community disasters such as hurricanes and floods. Workers of rescue missions are subjected to situations of severe stress frequently. Many emergency response workers (police, nurses, and medics) may become overwhelmed by the trauma they see so many people go through and end up with intrusive recollections themselves.Secondly, the trauma is re-experienced in the form of nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive memories and/or unrest in situations that are similar to the traumatic experience by an associated stimuli (Pfefferbaum). Auditory or visual stimuli can evoke panic, terror, dread, grief or despair. Commonly, in the case of war veterans, the patient may be mentally "sent back" to the time and location of the original traumatic experience. A veteran who hears a startling noise like a car backfiring may "hear" gunfire and it will trigger flashbacks. These flashbacks can last a little as a few seconds, minutes, or up to days where the person behaves and reacts to everything as if they are in that original traumatizing setting. Thirdly, there is a numbing of the emotions and reduced interests in others and the outside world. The person is attempting to reduce the likelihood that they will either expose themselves to traumatic stimuli or if exposed will minimize the intensity of their psychological response (Pfefferbaum). For this reason, it is extremely difficult for people with PTSD to participate in meaningful interpersonal relationships.Forth, there are random associated symptoms including insomnia, irritability, hypervigilance and outbursts of rage. The natural startle inhibitor may be dulled and the patient is easily surprised or upset by unexpected stimuli.Lastly, symptoms of each category must show significant affect on the person's social/vocational abilities or other important areas of life. Which appears to be an unavoidable e...
