This is, in fact, the symptom that drives many trauma survivors into attempts to control the effects of hyperarousal through drugs or alcohol. Survivors are most likely to abuse depressants of the central nervous system as they try to calm down. Often they use alcohol, opioids or tranquilizers such as Valium to achieve this effect. These attempts at self-medication can easily develop into substance abuse. Another indicator from Herman's model is what she refers to as constriction, the process of limiting one's world.
Constriction can also take the form of alterations in consciousness or feeling.
Herman's third indicator is intrusion, a referral to intrusive thoughts, memories or recurrent dreams that constantly bring the memory of the trauma back into the life of the survivor. These intrusions can also take the form of visual images or body memories that are not connected to a sequential memory of events. The American Psychological Association emphasizes different aspects in their definition. To qualify as PTSD, by APA criteria, these symptoms must last more than one month and cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social occupational or other areas of functioning. You're not ill and it's not your fault.