PTSD is not only about war

As a psychotherapist with many years of experience, I often hear the question: "Can post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occur in an ordinary person who has not been to war?" And the answer is always unequivocal: yes, PTSD does not apply only to the military.

In fact, it is a disorder that can occur to any of us. It can be caused by the death of a loved one, violence, a destroyed home, an accident, or even a long experience of living under occupation.

Usually, such events seem "less dramatic" than combat actions, but the psyche does not divide traumas into higher or lower grades.

It is influenced by only one thing: how threatening the situation was and how much it went beyond the person's usual experience.