Which option best characterizes post-traumatic stress disorder?

• A. A delayed response to a traumatic event with anxiety, denial, and nightmares.
• B. Recurrent intrusive thoughts and compulsions.
• C. Fear of intimate relationships.
• D. A delayed or immediate onset after trauma with nightmares, flashbacks, reduced appetite, and avoidance; treatment includes psychotherapy and drug therapy.

Answer: (D)

Post-traumatic stress disorder involves exposure to a traumatic event and a pattern of symptoms that can begin right away or be delayed, lasting for more than a month and causing significant distress or impairment. Key features include intrusive memories such as nightmares and flashbacks, avoidance of reminders, negative changes in thoughts and mood, and heightened arousal. The option that best fits PTSD mentions either a delayed or immediate onset after trauma, along with nightmares, flashbacks, avoidance, and another sign like reduced appetite, and it notes that treatment typically includes psychotherapy and medication. This combination reflects both the timing and the typical symptom spectrum as well as common treatment approaches.

The other choices don’t capture the full picture: one describes nightmares but omits flashbacks and avoidance and references denial, which isn’t a defining PTSD pattern; another resembles obsessive-compulsive disorder with intrusive thoughts and compulsions; and the last option describes a fear of intimate relationships, which isn’t a core PTSD characteristic.