Am I the Only One?

If you have PTSD you should know immediately: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Here are some statistical facts to show you just how big is the crowd you hang with:

percent-ahasoftGeneral Stats

  • 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. That’s 223.4 million people.
  • Up to 20% of these people go on to develop PTSD. As of today, that’s 31.3 million people who did or are struggling with PTSD.
  • An estimated 5% of Americans - that’s 11.2 million people - have PTSD at any given time.
  • An estimated 1 out of 10 women develops PTSD; women are about twice as likely as men.
  • Among people who are victims of a severe traumatic experience 60 - 80% will develop PTSD.
  • Almost 50% of all outpatient mental health patients have PTSD.
  • Somewhat higher rates of this disorder have been found to occur in African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans compared to Caucasians in the United States.

 

Combat PTSD

  • Lifetime occurrence (prevalence) in combat veterans 10 - 30%.
  • In the past year alone the number of diagnosed cases in the military jumped 50% - and that’s just diagnosed cases.
  • Studies estimate that 1 in every 5 military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has PTSD.
  • 20% of the soldiers who’ve been deployed in the past 6 years have PTSD. That’s over 300,000.
  • 17% of combat troops are women; 71% of female military personnel develop PTSD due to sexual assault within the ranks.

Doing the breakdown by war:

  • Afghanistan = 6 - 11% returning vets have PTSD
  • Iraq = 12 - 20% returning vets have PTSD

 

sad-child-kathy-a-adamsChildren, Teens & PTSD

  • 15-43% of girls and 14-43% of boys will experience a traumatic event
  • 3-15% girls and 1-6% of boys will develop PTSD
  • As many as 30 - 60% of children who have survived specific disasters have PTSD
  • According to the National Center for PTSD: “Rates of PTSD are much higher in children and adolescents recruited from at-risk samples. The rates of PTSD in these at-risk children and adolescents vary from 3 to 100%.”
  • 3 - 6% of high school students in the U.S. who survive specific disaster develop PTSD
  • More than 33% of youths exposed to community violence with experience PTSD
  • According the the National Center for PTSD: “Studies have shown that as many as 100% of children who witness a parental homicide or sexual assault develop PTSD. Similarly, 90% of sexually abused children, 77% of children exposed to a school shooting, and 35% of urban youth exposed to community violence develop PTSD.”

 

(Photo: Ahasoft, Kathy A Adams)