Trauma & PTSD
15 essays. Start-here picks first, then newest.
PTSD almost never looks like the movies. It can look like anger, numbness, bad sleep, being always on guard, or avoiding a road, a hospital, or a conversation. It can follow combat, a crash, abuse, a hard birth, or a stay in the ICU. These essays explain what trauma does and what helps. They cover the first 30 days after a trauma, how PTSD is treated today and in what order, complex PTSD, dissociation, grief, PTSD in children and teens, and PTSD with substance use. Others look ahead at newer treatments, including TMS, and sort the promising from the premature. There is also a guide for the person who loves someone with PTSD.
New here? Start with the many faces of PTSD. Then read how PTSD is treated today. If the trauma was recent, read the first 30 days. You set the pace. No essay here asks you to retell your story.
Looking for treatment rather than reading? PTSD & trauma care
All Trauma & PTSD essays
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The Many Faces of PTSD: Why It Almost Never Looks Like the Movies
August 5, 2026 · 18 min read
PTSD is one diagnosis with a very wide range of appearances. What it actually is, who develops it after trauma, and why it rarely looks like the movie version.
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How PTSD Is Treated Today: What Works, and What Order to Try It In
August 5, 2026 · 20 min read
The PTSD treatments with the strongest evidence: which therapies are recommended, which two medicines are FDA-approved, and what order to try them in.
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The First 30 Days After Trauma: What Helps, What Harms
September 6, 2026 · 11 min read
Learn what support can help after trauma, when to seek care, why forced retelling is discouraged, and what early therapy and medication evidence can show.
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PTSD in Children and Teens: What Parents Can Notice and Do
September 5, 2026 · 12 min read
Notice age-related changes after trauma, understand child PTSD assessment and therapy options, and prepare for care without diagnosing your child at home.
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Abusive Relationships and PTSD: Safety and Treatment
September 4, 2026 · 12 min read
Support can begin while safety needs are addressed. Learn about PTSD care, privacy, reporting limits, and abuse resources without a preset decision to leave.
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PTSD and Substance Use: Treating Both Together
September 3, 2026 · 12 min read
Learn how PTSD and substance use care can work together, when withdrawal needs medical attention, and what to ask about therapies, medicines, and programs.
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Complex PTSD, Explained: How It Differs From PTSD and BPD
September 2, 2026 · 12 min read
Understand complex PTSD, why a U.S. chart may use another label, how it differs from PTSD and BPD, and what to ask about assessment and treatment.
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When Medical Care Leaves You Feeling Unsafe
September 1, 2026 · 12 min read
Explore distress after ICU care, illness, or birth, what PTSD research can show, and how to ask for support while continuing the medical care you need.
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PTSD and Physical Health: What the Evidence Shows
August 31, 2026 · 12 min read
Understand links between PTSD and physical illness, why research does not prove a personal cause, and how to discuss symptoms and prevention with a clinician.
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Your ACE Score: What It Predicts, and What It Cannot
August 30, 2026 · 11 min read
An ACE score counts childhood experiences, not your future. Learn its limits, what California screening means, and what useful follow-up care can include.
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When Grief Overwhelms: Prolonged Grief, PTSD, or Both?
August 29, 2026 · 11 min read
Learn how prolonged grief, PTSD, and depression can overlap, what grief-focused care offers, and when to seek help without setting a deadline on mourning.
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Loving Someone With PTSD: Support, Boundaries, and Treatment
August 28, 2026 · 11 min read
Support someone with PTSD while keeping consent, safety, and your own needs in view. Learn about avoidance, couple therapies, boundaries, and family care.
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TMS for PTSD: What the 2026 MeRT Clearance Really Means
August 20, 2026 · 15 min read
Learn what the 2026 FDA clearance of MeRT for adult PTSD means, how treatment works, what one trial found, and which safety questions to ask at a clinic.
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The Future of PTSD Treatment: Sorting the Promising From the Premature
August 5, 2026 · 20 min read
MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, and devices for PTSD: what has real randomized evidence behind it, what is still early, and what has already failed.
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Understanding PTSD and Dissociative Symptoms
April 17, 2025 · 21 min read
PTSD with dissociative symptoms is a DSM-5-TR specifier, not a separate illness. Roughly one in five people with PTSD meet it. Brain imaging shows over-regulation, not shutdown. The risk of self-harm runs higher, and treatment is paced.