Can Grief Cause Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

Posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a mental health condition that sometimes occurs when a person experiences a trauma or witnesses a terrifying event or series of events. Once believed only to affect soldiers who had been in combat (it was then referred to as “combat fatigue”)  PTSD is actually a fairly common occurrence in people who have experienced trauma of any kind, including the sudden or traumatic death of someone they love. According to the American Psychiatric Association, PTSD affects approximately 3.5% of American adults each year, and about one in 11 Americans will experience symptoms of PTSD during their lifetime. 

Almost any traumatic event can trigger PTSD. However, some of the most common  triggers are:

• Serious accidents such as car wrecks
• Natural disasters
• Acts of war, combat
• Terrorist attacks
• Mass shootings
• Rape or sexual assault
• Being threatened with physical harm, sexual violence or rape
• Learning that any of the above has happened to a loved one (indirect exposure)
• The sudden death of a loved one

Additionally, people who have experienced prolonged suffering or who have undergone repeated trauma (such as victims of prolonged domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual exploitation or incest) often suffer from a particularly severe form of PTSD known as Complex PTSD. This kind of PTSD may also affect doctors, nurses, and the loved ones of people who die a difficult and painful death. Many individuals who were on the front lines of the recent coronavirus pandemic or who watched their loved ones die of COVID-19, for example, have gone on to develop complex PTSD. 

With that being said, it’s important to understand that not everyone who has an intense emotional reaction to a traumatic event meets the criteria for PTSD. Many people who are indirectly exposed to a terrifying event (such as the sudden, traumatic death of a loved one) develop a less prolonged condition known as acute stress disorder or ASD. Characterized by many of the same symptoms as PTSD[ link to what are the sx of PTSD), ASD develops shortly after a traumatic event and lasts less than one month. If symptoms persist beyond that time, the person is said to have PTSD. 

Sources

“The Burden of Loss: Unexpected death of a loved one and psychiatric disorders across the life course in a national study”. National Library of Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4119479/ 

“What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?” American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd 

“Complex PTSD: History and Definitions”. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/essentials/complex_ptsd.asp 

“Acute Stress Disorder”. Merck Manual Consumer Version. https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental-health-disorders/anxiety-and-stressor-related-disorders/acute-stress-disorder