PTSD

Key points

• PTSD: after an exceptionally threatening event — re-experiencing (flashbacks, nightmares) · avoidance/numbing · hyperarousal.
• Symptoms must persist > 1 month (before that: acute stress disorder).
• Onset may be delayed by months or years.
• Management: trauma-focused CBT or EMDR first-line (NICE); drug treatment (sertraline/paroxetine) second-line.
• Watchful waiting appropriate for mild symptoms < 4 weeks.

Decision points in this pathway

• Duration < 1 month?

The full step-by-step algorithm, including what to do at each branch, opens in the app for approved members.