This is the first of three blogs that will each take a close look at one of the key symptoms of PTSD.

The first "Symptom Cluster" is what makes PTSD different from other stress and anxiety disorders. The traumatic event takes on a life of it's own, and continues to intrude on the person's life.


The person affected may be trying listening to you talk, but they can't because they can't stop thinking about the event that traumatized them. These thoughts are not invited or welcome, they will not go away, and the person can not stop thinking about them.

These thoughts will intrude at night as well, in a person's dreams. People with PTSD will often not want to sleep because of the nightmares that they know await.

The most unique of these Intrusive Recollections is the "Flashback". This is where for a period of time (whether it be momentary or extended) the person believes that they are back experiencing the traumatic event. They think they are back in Iraq, or fighting off the rapist, or the plane is crashing. There is now belief that the person will encounter a specific stimuli that will cause this flashback, such as a car backfiring or airplane flying overhead.

There are two more parts of the Intrusive Recollection symptom, the first being that the thought of the trauma can bring on physical changes in the person. Their heart rate will rise, and there will be changes in the way their brain processes information. The second part is very important for research, because these conditions can often be recreated in a controlled environment (with the person's consent, of course.) This means that doctors can expose patients that re-enact the traumatic experience to gain a reaction that can be monitored and studied. This helps the person find what stresses might bring on anger, grieving, depression, or even a flashback.