Post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder affects people who have suffered a terrifying experience like a violent attack, car crash or earthquake. Sufferers often have recurrent nightmares of their ordeal and may feel guilty about their survival. They may also suffer from vivid memories or flashbacks - reliving the event through sounds, smells or feelings that seem as real as they did at the time. Post-traumatic stress disorder was first recognised as 'shell shock' in veterans of the First World War.
