
How Long After a Traumatic Event Can PTSD Occur?

It’s very normal to have feelings of fear, anxiety, shock, guilt, and anger after going through a traumatic event. And even though it may take a while for these feelings to fade, they should become less intense over time.
However, if these feelings become more and more severe over the course of weeks, months, or even years, it’s considered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), especially if these feelings interfere with your ability to work, go to school, or maintain relationships.
In most cases of PTSD, symptoms develop within three months of the event. But in some cases, it can take years for symptoms to manifest, which can make it tricky to detect and diagnose.
At Sydea Medical Practice in Newport Beach, California, our team led by psychiatrist and mental health expert Venice Sanchez, MD, understands that PTSD can be incredibly complex and difficult to talk about. If you’ve experienced a traumatic event, you might be wondering if you have PTSD or may develop it at some point.
So, this month’s blog focuses on what PTSD can look like to help you better understand if you need professional interventions.
Understanding PTSD
PTSD is a mental health condition that develops after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Common PTSD-triggering events include physical or sexual abuse, an accident, a natural disaster, war, or the sudden death of a loved one. In addition, families of trauma victims and emergency personnel often develop PTSD as well.
Symptoms of PTSD are typically divided into four categories: intrusive thoughts, avoidance, changes in mood or thinking, and changes in physical or emotional reactions.
These are some examples of what these symptoms can look like:
- Intrusive thoughts: Recurring nightmares or reliving memories about the event
- Avoidance: Becoming detached or avoiding anything that might trigger feelings about the event
- Changes in mood/thinking: Feelings of intense guilt or loss of interest in things that typically excite you
- Physical and emotional reactions: Hypersensitivity to danger or extreme irritability
To be considered PTSD, multiple symptoms from each category need to be present and they have to last for at least a month and interfere with many aspects of your daily life.
Why does PTSD sometimes take so long to develop?
In cases where it takes longer than six months for PTSD to develop, it’s referred to as delayed-onset PTSD. Currently, there’s no clear reason why in some cases PTSD appears and is diagnosed so late after the event.
Sometimes, delayed-onset PTSD happens when the initial PTSD symptoms are mild and don’t reach the threshold needed for an official PTSD diagnosis. But later on, the same PTSD symptoms worsen or reoccur, making it seem like PTSD was slow to develop.
Other research indicates that delayed-onset PTSD can happen when additional life stressors or trauma trigger a PTSD response to the prior event. For example, some war veterans report that their PTSD symptoms were triggered by job loss or the death of a loved one.
Do you need PTSD treatment?
Even if it’s been a long time since you’ve experienced a traumatic event, it doesn’t mean you can’t be experiencing delayed-onset PTSD. Everyone’s experience with trauma is different, and you deserve to get proper treatment that can help you get symptom relief.
At Sydea Medical Practice, Dr. Sanchez offers compassionate and effective treatment for PTSD including medications and psychotherapy (talk therapy).
To learn if PTSD treatment could be right for you, schedule an appointment by calling our office or using our online booking feature today.
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