Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that develops after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. It can cause persistent symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and intrusive thoughts. People with PTSD may also avoid reminders of the trauma, feel emotionally detached, or struggle with sleep and concentration.
Levi used to love late-night drives. After a serious car accident in sixth form, he couldn’t even hear a horn without his chest tightening. At uni, he avoided certain routes, sat with his back to walls, and woke from dreams that replayed the crash in freeze-frame. Friends thought he was “on edge.” He told himself to toughen up.
A trauma assessment named PTSD. With trauma-focused therapy, he processed what happened rather than reliving it. Grounding skills helped when sirens flared; gradual exposure put him back in the passenger seat, then the driver’s. Months later, he could take the ring road at dusk. The accident remained part of his story, but it stopped steering.
