Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Adults - Statistics and Prevalence

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which there was the potential for or actual occurrence of grave physical harm. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, and military combat. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal, may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled.

1. 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. This equates to approximately 223.4 million people
2. Up to 20% of these people go on to develop PTSD. As of today, that equates to approximately 44.7 million people who were or are struggling with PTSD.
3. An estimated 8% of Americans − 24.4 million people − have PTSD at any given time. That is equal to the total population of Texas.
4. An estimated one out of every nine women develops PTSD, making them about twice as likely as men.
5. About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people (or 7-8% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
6. About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
7. About 10 of every 100 women (or 10%) develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 men (or 4%)