What triggers post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is primarily triggered by the experience of trauma. This means that individuals who have encountered or witnessed a traumatic event, such as combat, natural disasters, serious accidents, or violent assaults, are at risk of developing PTSD. The traumatic experience serves as a catalyst that leads to symptoms such as re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of reminders related to the trauma, heightened arousal responses, and negative changes in mood and cognition.

While chronic stress exposure and genetic predisposition can contribute to a person's overall mental health and vulnerability to develop various psychological conditions, they are not direct triggers of PTSD. Instead, they may influence the severity or resilience in response to traumatic events. Long-term mental illness can affect how a person copes with trauma, but again, it is not the primary factor that triggers the onset of PTSD. The focus remains on the direct impact of experiencing a traumatic event as the essential factor in developing this disorder.