How Common is PTSD?

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur after you have been through a trauma. A trauma is something horrible and scary that you see or that happens to you. During this type of event, you think that your life or others' lives are in danger. You may feel afraid or think that you have no control over what is happening.

Going through trauma is not rare. About 60% of men and 50% of women experience at least one trauma in their lives. Women are more likely to experience sexual assault and child sexual abuse. Men are more likely to experience accidents, physical assault, combat, disaster, or to witness death or injury.

Going through a trauma doesn't mean you'll get PTSD, though. Although over half of us go through some type of trauma, a much smaller percent develop PTSD.

Here are some facts (based on the U.S.):

• About 7-8% of the population will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
• About 5.2 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
• Women are more likely than men to develop PTSD. About 10% of women develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with 5% of men.

Who is most likely to develop PTSD?

Although most people who go through trauma will not get PTSD, you are more likely to develop PTSD if you:

• Were directly exposed to the trauma as a victim or a witness
• Were seriously hurt during the event
• Went through a trauma that was long-lasting or very severe
• Believed that you were in danger
• Believed that a family member was in danger
• Had a severe reaction during the event, such as crying, shaking, vomiting, or feeling apart from your surroundings
• Felt helpless during the trauma and were not able to help yourself or a loved one.

You are also more likely to develop PTSD if you:

• Had an earlier life-threatening event or trauma, such as being abused as a child
• Have another mental health problem
• Have family members who have had mental health problems
• Have little support from family and friends
• Have recently lost a loved one, especially if it was not expected
• Have had recent, stressful life changes
• Drink a lot of alcohol
• Are a woman
• Are poorly educated
• Are younger

Some groups of people, including blacks and Hispanics, may be more likely than whites to develop PTSD. This may be because these groups are more likely to go through a trauma. For example, in Veterans who survived Vietnam, a larger percent of blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans were in combat than whites.

Your culture or ethnic group also may affect how you react to trauma. For example, people from groups that are open and willing to talk about problems may be more willing to seek help.

PTSD and the Military

If you are in the military, you may have seen combat. You may have been on missions that exposed you to horrible and life-threatening experiences. You may have been shot at, seen a buddy shot, or seen death. These are types of events that can lead to PTSD.

Experts think PTSD occurs:

• In about 11-20% of Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom), or in 11-20 Veterans out of 100.
• In as many as 10% of Gulf War (Desert Storm) Veterans, or in 10 Veterans out of 100.
• In about 30% of Vietnam Veterans, or about 30 out of 100 Vietnam Veterans.

Other factors in a combat situation can add more stress to an already stressful situation. This may contribute to PTSD and other mental health problems. These factors include what you do in the war, the politics around the war, where it's fought, and the type of enemy you face.

Another cause of PTSD in the military can be military sexual trauma (MST). This is any sexual harassment or sexual assault that occurs while you are in the military. MST can happen to both men and women and can occur during peacetime, training, or war.

Among Veterans using VA health care, about:

• 23 out of 100 women (23%) reported sexual assault when in the military.
• 55 out of 100 women (55%) and 38 out of 100 men (38%) have experienced sexual harassment when in the military.

Even though military sexual trauma is far more common in women Veterans, over half of all Veterans with military sexual trauma are men. This is because there are many more male Veterans than there are females.

Sources

Kessler, R.C., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E. Hughes, M., & Nelson, C.B. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52(12), 1048-1060.

Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., & Walters, E. E. (2005a). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 593-602.

Kulka, R.A., Schlenger, W.E., Fairbank, J.A. Hough, R.L., Jordan, B.K., Marmar, C.R., & Weiss, D.S. (1990). Trauma and the Vietnam War Generation: Report of Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, New York: Brunner/Mazel.

Tanielian, T. & Jaycox, L. (Eds.)(2008). Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.