Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that often follows a severe traumatic event such as a natural disaster, surviving combat, rape, childhood neglect, abductions, airplane crashes, hostage situations, sexual or physical abuse, the death of a loved one in many others.
This lesson outlines a wide variety of traumatic experiences. Between 25 and 42% of those seeking substance use treatment meet criteria for PTSD (Hensley and Coffey, 2010). Using alcohol and drugs as an attempt to self-medicate difficult emotions or to escape traumatic memories is very common and ends up complicating treatment for the substance use disorder and the mental health problem.
