ABSTRACT
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by a specific clinical syndrome including re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance, and alterations in arousal, cognition, and mood, resulting from exposure to severe traumatic events. PTSD was first officially recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd ed. (DSM III) in 1980,1 and since that time a great deal of knowledge has accumulated about the characteristics of post-traumatic symptomatology, the epidemiology of PTSD, and assessment and treatment of individuals suffering from this disorder. Traumatic events that can result in PTSD fall into a number of categories, including military combat, rape, physical assault, natural disaster, and witnessing violence.2
