3.6% of U.S. adults experienced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the past year. Learn about PTSD and ways to support yourself working with PTSD.
What is PTSD?
Traumatic events—such as an accident, assault, or natural disaster—can have lasting impacts on a person’s mental health. While it’s normal to have a strong reaction to traumatic events, some people continue to feel distress that doesn’t go away. People who have a strong stress response that lasts for more than one month and significantly interferes with their daily life may be diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
After a traumatic event, a person might experience the following:
- Recurring upsetting memories or bad dreams, flashbacks, and intrusive or involuntary thoughts.
- Avoidance of certain places, objects, or people that are reminders of the traumatic event.
- Feeling numb, guilty, worried, or depressed and having difficulty remembering the traumatic event.
- Hypervigilance, such as being on guard or intensely startled, trouble sleeping, or outbursts of anger.
A person can experience these reactions because of secondary trauma, as well. Secondary trauma may occur when someone sees or hears about a traumatic event, especially for those who work closely with people who have experienced trauma. When secondary traumatic stress goes on for a long time, it may develop into a long-term, negative change in worldview called vicarious trauma.
Many people with PTSD start experiencing signs within three months after a traumatic event. But these signs may not appear until years later.
Developing PTSD is not a sign of weakness or failure. It’s a health condition just like any other.
Risk Factors for PTSD
Research about PTSD risk factors is expanding. Some biological factors, like genetics and your body’s ability to handle stress hormones, can make it more likely that a person develops PTSD after trauma.
Some jobs have an increased risk for PTSD. Those jobs include:
- First responders such as healthcare workers, police, fire and EMS personnel
- Military personnel
- Construction workers and others in the industrial trades
- Veterinarians and animal shelter workers
Other jobs, like social workers, teachers, and therapists, may face secondary trauma from witnessing the struggles of others. But anyone can be affected by trauma.
How PTSD Can Impact Your Work Day
People who live with PTSD can do quite well at work and be productive team members. Learning to manage PTSD can help people develop or enhance important skills, such as:
- Flexible thinking
- Relational skills
- Renewed sense of meaning or purpose
- Leadership abilities such as courage and resilience
PTSD in the workplace can also be challenging and impact work in these ways:
- Energy levels
- Focus and concentration
- Social interactions
- Decision-making
- Stress management
Some days may be harder than others. People with PTSD can still have successful careers, especially in a supportive workplace.
Tools to Manage PTSD in the Workplace
Many people with PTSD thrive at work with few or no accommodations. You may wish to connect with your treatment provider for guidance in identifying accommodations that will help you succeed. Some common adaptations include:
- Flexible work arrangements so you can attend treatment appointments, therapy, or support groups.
- Spaces assigned to you so you can better navigate your environment. For instance, you might ask for an assigned parking space close to your work location so you can easily get to your car when you need some time alone. Or you might ask for a desk facing the door so you can see who is coming in and out.
- A service animal can provide companionship during stressful times, like walking to your car at night or when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Trained service animals can also do things like stand between their person and strangers or wake their person up from nightmares.
- Modified supervision to have more frequent check-ins on appropriate workload and maintaining connection.
- Visit the Job Accommodation Network for a list of apps to help stay organized and manage time, as well as more information about potential accommodations.
Steps You Can Take to Seek Help
- Reach Out for Support: Talk to a trusted friend, family member, or mental health professional. Opening up can make a big difference.
- Access Employer Resources: Explore your company’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or health benefits for counseling options or referrals to long-term treatment.
- If an appointment with your EAP feels intimidating, begin by scheduling an appointment knowing you can cancel it later. You can always choose not to attend your session, but you may find once it’s on your calendar you’ll look forward to the help they can offer.
- Recognize Your Triggers: Reminders of the trauma, like sounds or smells, can be distressing. Work with your treatment provider to develop an active coping plan to manage stress reactions.
- Practice Stress Management Techniques: Breathing exercises (i.e. pursed lip breathing, box breathing), mindfulness (i.e. tapping, meditation), or grounding exercises (i.e. 5-4-3-2-1, progressive muscle relaxation) can help in the moment.
- Set Small, Achievable Goals: Break down tasks into manageable steps to prevent feeling overwhelmed.
- Problem Solve With Your Manager: If you’re comfortable with your manager, reflect on what support might be helpful or connect with your treatment provider or another source (like the Job Accommodation Network) to learn about potential accommodations. Write down some thoughts about what you might want to cover with your manager. It can be helpful to remind your manager that you will continue to meet the needs of your job.
- Practice Self-Care: Make time for sleep, exercise, and connection with loved ones. Take breaks throughout the workday and treat yourself to small kindnesses, like a favorite drink or a picture for your workspace. Start small — progress takes time.
- Consider Professional Treatment: Therapy (such as cognitive-processing therapy (CPT) or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR)) and medication can be highly effective in treating PTSD. This PTSD treatment decision aid is a tool to learn about the different treatments available.
Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. You’re not alone, and help is available.
More Resources for Working With PTSD
You may wish to consult NAMI’s posttraumatic stress disorder page, where you will find information on the condition, current treatments, and ways to support recovery.
The following resources may be helpful:
- Read articles on the NAMI Blog about experiences with PTSD. (How EMDR Healed My Trauma)
- NAMI TraumaInSight is a free, virtual training by NAMI to enhance trauma awareness when working with youth. Lessons 6 and 7 can help anyone trying to learn more about trauma-informed workplaces and secondary trauma.
- America’s VetDogs provides no-cost PTSD service dogs to veterans, active-duty service members, or first responders who are living with disability caused by PTSD. Reach them by phone at (866) 838-3647.
- The Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing International Association website EMDR International Association offers a “Find an EMDR Therapist” locator to find clinicians trained in the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, a psychotherapy treatment that helps people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD.
- Int’l Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation provides facts sheets, webinars, and other resources on trauma and dissociation, as well as a Find a Therapist/Facility locator. Reach them by phone at (202) 803-6332.
- The JED Foundation protects emotional health and prevents suicide for adolescents and young adults; the organization’s website offers a webpage on “How to Cope with Traumatic Events,” including tips on coping and recognizing when trauma requires professional help.
- Traumatic Stress Institute is an international organization that helps people understand, recover from, and treat traumatic stress (including PTSD), dissociative disorders, and co–occurring conditions such as addiction, self-injury, and suicidality. Their website provides educational information, resources for treatment, support, and self-help, as well as publications about trauma and recovery.
- The US Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD website provides resources for individuals, family members and providers about combat- and non-combat-related PTSD, including information on understanding PTSD, treatment options, self-help resources, and finding support as a family member. Their website offers resources for finding a treatment provider. Their “Helping a Family Member Who Has PTSD” webpage is also available in Spanish.
- TF-CBT National Therapist Certification Program offers a “Find a Therapist” locator on its website to find a clinician in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) treatment for people impacted by trauma; search by location, name and other criteria.
- PTSD Coach Online is for anyone who needs help with upsetting feelings. Trauma survivors, their families, or anyone coping with stress can benefit.
