Peritraumatic Risk Factors

  Why, in the face of the same traumatic event, do some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder and others don’t? The answer to this question lies in peritraumatic risk factors, the group of circumstances that occur when trauma is experienced. A traumatic event only facilitates the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when it overwhelms the individual. In effect, it surpasses the ‘threshold for trauma’ as defined by Belloch (2020), resulting in a serious disruption in normal day-to-day functioning. “Perhaps the mind is much more powerful than we realize and isolates negative thoughts and traumatic memories.” -Armando Rodera- PTSD is…