| a mental disorder, as battle fatigue, occurring after a traumatic event outside the range of usual human experience, and characterized by symptoms such as reliving the event, reduced involvement with others, and manifestations of autonomic arousal such as hyperalertness and exaggerated startle response. Abbreviation: PTSD |
| posttraumatic stress disorder n. Abbr. PTSD A psychological disorder affecting individuals who have experienced or witnessed profoundly traumatic events, such as torture, murder, rape, or wartime combat, characterized by recurrent flashbacks of the traumatic event, nightmares, irritability, anxiety, fatigue, forgetfulness, and social withdrawal. |
A psychological disorder in which a person continues to respond with distress to a traumatic event long after that event has occurred. The affected person may reexperience the event in their thoughts or dreams and exhibit a heightened state of arousal characteristic of extreme stress. Combat and rape are two of the most common causes of this disorder.
Note: PTSD was formalized as a disorder after the Vietnam War, when returning soldiers would often continue to show the signs of stress long after they had left the military.
posttraumatic stress disorder n.
An anxiety disorder affecting individuals who have experienced profound emotional trauma, such as torture, rape, military combat, or a natural disaster, characterized by recurrent flashbacks of the traumatic event, nightmares, eating disorders, anxiety, fatigue, forgetfulness, and social withdrawal. Also called posttraumatic stress syndrome.
posttraumatic stress disorder  (pōst'trô-māt'ĭk, -trou-) Pronunciation Key
A psychological disorder affecting individuals who have experienced or witnessed profoundly traumatic events, such as torture, murder, rape, or wartime combat, characterized by recurrent flashbacks of the traumatic event, nightmares, irritability, anxiety, fatigue, forgetfulness, and social withdrawal. |