During the course of any year, an estimated 5.2 million adults will suffer from PTSD, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. PTSD can develop following a single traumatic event like rape. Or a catastrophe, like earthquakes, hurricanes or bombings. Or it can arise following a lifetime of service in fire and rescue. It can be cured, said Dr. Randall A. Scott, a Lynchburg psychiatrist, but not easily.
People can have some lingering effects of the trauma years later.
But the severe and disabling symptoms, intrusive thoughts and memories will fade. It is a sign of Gary Clauser's healing that he is able to talk about what happens when PTSD becomes an acronym for a private hell. But Clauser started his career in the mid-1970s. If you're upset over an incident, you're supposed to forget it and go on. He was already a veteran when critical incident stress debriefings first started here in the 1980s.