DISCLAIMER: I am a therapist and doctoral student, so while I would never diagnose someone who is not my patient, there are a few telltale signs that make PTSD a likely story for people who exhibit some types of attitudes and behaviors. This post is not mental health treatment or therapy, nor does it intend to diagnose anyone.

• If you are experiencing any of these symptoms and are feeling unsafe or that you want to hurt yourself, PLEASE call 988, the national suicide help line.
• For Veterans: Dial 988 then Press 1, chat online, or text 838255.

I will caveat this by saying that someone can meet many, but not all criteria, for PTSD but not have a PTSD diagnosis. Trauma is trauma. If I see someone experiencing these, I may think that PTSD is likely, but I will almost certainly know they experienced some kind of trauma. That is almost indisputable. I’m not going to list all the criteria for PTSD because you can look in the DSM-5 for that.

1. Dissociation (not a main criterion for PTSD, but can be part of it):
   People zone out during a conversation. They may trail off, or suddenly have a blank look in their eyes as if they aren’t there inside. This might be accompanied by derealization or depersonalization, which are common traits of dissociative identity disorder (DID) as well. Note that DID often has roots in severe trauma, usually in childhood.
2. Emotional reactivity: Sadness, anger, irritability, emptiness. Someone may suddenly snap after not being provoked. You might be having a conversation with someone and they reply hastily or sound irritated. It might not be anything you did - it is likely the person was triggered by an internal experience, such as a memory, flashback, sound, smell, or even taste. These are not measurable because they are someone’s internal experiences, so I wouldn’t go guessing what that person is experiencing. Sometimes it looks like aggression out of nowhere, where someone may actually become combative or violent, but I would say this is less common than is portrayed in media, TV, movies.
3. Physical reactivity: Stomach aches, body aches, head aches, somatic complaints in general of pain. May not be sleeping, or may be waking due to nightmares. Don’t assume.
4. Heightened startle response or feeling that someone is looking over your shoulder: Also called hypervigilance, which is exactly how it sounds - being acutely aware, hyper aware, or vigilant of one’s surroundings. A cupboard door closes suddenly, and someone twitches or jumps. A loud sound causes people to feel extremely uncomfortable. A common one is hearing fireworks during holidays, which cause many veterans to feel uncomfortable because they sound like gunfire. Many veterans are fine, though, so don’t assume this is a problem for every veteran.
5. Difficulty recalling details/memory impairment: Sometimes a person cannot finish the thought they had, or suddenly forget an important detail. This really looks like forgetfulness. Have you ever been really stressed and you forget something important? That’s what this is - it just may happen more often for someone with trauma. People may forget meetings, regular appointments, a lunch or coffee date, or other details in their own life. This is connected to the brain impairment that comes with trauma - a previous post I answered I referenced Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s book, The Body Keeps the Score, which outlines this well.
   
   These are the ones that stand out to me - I hope this helps!
   
   Best,
   
   Julia

UPDATE:

I wanted to thank everyone who has responded, upvoted, and shared this post. You’ve inspired me to create a blog and write about PTSD and trauma. I’ll be sure to check back in with updates. Thanks again, and I really hope this has helped you. —Julia