Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that is usually a result of either experiencing or witnessing a horrific situation. However, the term wasn’t coined until much recently, despite having been existing for hundreds of years. Early examples of PTSD include war veterans who experienced severe combat trauma from the Vietnam War. These individuals were not diagnosed with PTSD, but rather as “shell shock” or “soldier’s heart” (Crocq, 2000).

In 1980, the term PTSD was coined by the American Psychiatric Association who added it to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders third edition (DSM-III) (Crocq, 2000). The newest model is the fifth edition (DSM-5) which made changes to how PTSD is diagnosed. The severity of PTSD is dependent upon the degree of the response to the traumatic event that an individual experiences or witnesses, such as feelings of immediate helplessness, or extreme fear (Tan et al., 2011). PTSD has been shown to affect many war veterans, with 30% of Vietnam War veterans experiencing PTSD from combat (Tan et al., 2011). The most common sources of PTSD are a result of torture, war, sexual violence, and natural disasters (Friedman, 2014). PTSD rates in American men and women have been estimated at approximately 3.6% and 9.7% respectively (Friedman, 2014). The cost of PTSD to the United States is at a staggering $45 to $50 billion annually (Tan et al., 2011).

The diagnostic criteria for PTSD has been modified recently, with the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in 2013. This criterion involves a set of 20 questions that assesses an individual’s response to a stressful previous experience, also abbreviated as PCL-5 with PCL referring to the PTSD Checklist. This questionnaire asks about how much an individual is bothered by changes in their psychological thinking in the past month, as symptoms of PTSD can occur within a month after the experience. The scale for the responses to the questions is from 0-4, with 5 options being “not at all,” “a little bit,” moderately,” “quite a bit,” or “extremely” (Weathers et al., 2013). The 20 questions from the PCL-5 are asked about the stressful experience in the following condensed manner:

1. Repeated memories
2. Repeated dreams
3. Flashbacks or imagining reliving the event
4. Feeling upset upon being reminded
5. Strong physical reactions when reminded
6. Avoiding any feelings or memories associated
7. Avoiding external reminders, such as people or places
8. Having difficulty remembering key parts
9. Negative thoughts about yourself or others
10. Blaming yourself or others
11. Strong negative feelings including anger and shame
12. Losing interest in enjoyable activities
13. Feeling detached from others
14. Difficulty maintaining positive feelings
15. Irritable or aggressive responses
16. Making reckless decisions
17. Being overly attentive
18. Being easily startled
19. Difficulty in concentration
20. Difficulty with sleep

The responses for each of these 20 questions are scored from 0-4 as described earlier, and a minimum score range from 31-33 indicates that an individual has potential PTSD, with higher scores indicating a higher chance of having PTSD.