June Is National PTSD Awareness Month

June is widely recognized as National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month. PTSD is a mental health condition that can affect people of any age, not only after a single traumatic event, but also due to prolonged exposure to cumulative stress, repeated trauma or overwhelming life experiences. It is more common than many realize, affecting about 12 million people in the United States.

This month aims to reduce stigma, promote understanding of PTSD, and encourage people to recognize symptoms and seek treatment and support. PTSD is sometimes considered an “invisible wound” so awareness can help us be better equipped to understand and support our member cities as they work to serve the well-being of their employees and the diverse communities they serve. 

History of PTSD Awareness Month

In 2010, Congress officially designated June 27, 2010, as National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day. Staff Sergeant Joe Biel passed away in 2007 after suffering from PTSD – his birthday, June 27 — was selected as the official PTSD Awareness Day, which is now observed each year. In 2014, Congress designated the full month of June 2014 as National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month.

What is PTSD?

PTSD first appeared in 1980 as a term in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Although first referred to as PTSD that year, earlier medical publications referred to conditions such as “soldier’s heart,” “shell shock,” and “war neurosis” as it was often associated with combat veterans. 

PTSD is a mental health injury that can occur after experiencing, or being exposed to, a traumatic event or prolonged stress, that can affect our emotions, brain, and body functions. At first, medical professionals believed that PTSD originated from one traumatic event. However, it is now recognized that continuous exposure to stressful situations, or cumulative stress, can also cause symptoms of PTSD. 

There are four common groups of symptoms that people with PTSD exhibit. 

• Intrusive/re-experiencing symptoms, which cause a person to re-experience the trauma through flashbacks, nightmares, distressing and intense memories, and/or emotional distress or physical reactions after being exposed to triggers. 
• Avoidance symptoms when a person tries to avoid reminders of the trauma, including avoiding people, places, conversations, activities, etc., and/or trauma-related thoughts or emotions.
• Negative changes to mood or thoughts, like blaming self or others for the trauma, decreased interest in things that were once enjoyable, negative feelings about self and the world, inability to remember the trauma clearly, persistent negative emotional state, feelings of detachment from others, and/or difficulty feeling positive emotions. 
• Changes in reactivity, such as aggression or irritability, risky or self-destructive behaviors, hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, and/or heightened startle response.

PTSD Treatment and Resources

PTSD symptoms may happen suddenly or gradually over time, have a delayed or immediate onset, and can present as a few symptoms or multiple symptoms. Regardless of the onset and number of symptoms, receiving treatment can help manage symptoms and sometimes alleviate them all together. For PTSD and symptoms of PTSD, it is key to seek help as soon as possible rather than waiting. 

The League of Minnesota Cities maintains many resources that cities can use to support mental health. The PTSD and Mental Health Toolkit, for example, helps members address issues of public safety mental health and PTSD. Toolkit topics include information on wellness and its relationship to mental health, mental health strategies and concepts and practices that leaders can embrace, guidelines and samples for establishing a peer support program, an overview of early intervention tips for trauma, stress, and other mental health concerns, information about effective treatment of PTSD, information on addressing and preventing crisis, practical discussions of human resources considerations, and information about other resources and organizations that work to support mental health. 

Additional Resources 

• LMC webpage on post-traumatic stress disorder
• Resolution designating June 27, 2010, as “National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day” (S.Res.541 - 111th Congress (2009-2010))
• Resolution designating the month of June 2014 as “National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month” (S. Res. 481 - 113th Congress (2013-2014))
• Veteran.com - PTSD Awareness Month 
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Recognizes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – National Center for PTSD
• Help Raise PTSD Awareness - PTSD: National Center for PTSD