MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – June is PTSD Awareness Month, aimed at ensuring people know signs to look for, and where to go for help.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the collective name for a group of disorders that can impact people’s ability to live healthy happy lives after trauma.

Jenny Hanson is a licensed clinical social worker at Golden Vibes Counseling in Madison. She sees lots of clients with PTSD.

She said it can be difficult to diagnose, because its symptoms may not have a clear connection to the trauma that’s causing them. Plus, it can be so internal that it’s hard for loved ones to see red flags. It can impact everyone differently.

“People generally don’t recognize it in others or themselves. People tend to downplay or undermine their own trauma, or not identify it as trauma,” Hanson said. “That’s just because we haven’t been well educated as a society about what causes trauma. Two people could go through the same childhood and come up with very, very different experiences, because they respond differently.”

Experiencing trauma does not mean someone will develop PTSD symptoms. According to the National Center for PTSD, about 6% of people will deal with PTSD at some point in their lives. However, it’s still underreported and underdiagnosed.

She’s seeing even more young people now. She said between the pandemic and all its pressures, the political climate, and financial stressors, sometimes the world can feel out of control.

“There’s a level of underlying [thoughts that] the world’s not okay, there’s war, there’s climate change, oh, my god, all these things are out of my control,” Hanson said. “That causes a low level of distress.”

People in marginalized communities likely suffer at higher rates. Having to deal with racism, homophobia, discrimination, or barriers can leave a deep, lasting mark on someone.

“We need to expand our thoughts about what causes trauma,” Hanson said. “There’s racial trauma, there’s the trauma of being queer in society, or belonging to any marginalized group. Someone with long-term health problems, someone with a disability, they can all experience trauma, as well as familial trauma, as well as cultural trauma. [Someone could feel trauma] just from being exposed to images of what an ideal woman looks like in society and feeling we have to conform to that.”

Often PTSD is most discussed when it comes to veterans and survivors of crime or abuse. However, Hanson specializes in a different type of the disorder.

“There’s a more common kind of PTSD that is still under-acknowledged in this country. It’s called complex trauma or complex developmental trauma,” she said. “It means repeated trauma over a number of years.”

If you or someone you love needs help dealing with PTSD, a trusted primary care physician is a good place to start. In crisis, call 988 or 911.