With PTSD, it is common to react to trauma-related cues. The date of a traumatic event from your past may bring up feelings or distress, even years later. These "anniversary reactions" could make you upset or create more intense symptoms. Learn about common types of anniversary reactions and how you can cope. On the day of, it just hits me. One of the key symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD is reacting to trauma reminders. An anniversary date may cue or "trigger" the memory of a traumatic event.
Other anniversaries may be tied to holidays e. Anniversaries may also be linked to private events, or traumas that are not in the media, like the date a loved one died, or a prior sexual assault happened. Cues may also seem to come from out of the blue around the time of an anniversary.
They may happen while you are at work, home or relaxing. So, it is possible you may not even be aware that there is a connection between your distress and the anniversary of your traumatic event. Anniversary reactions may occur because of the way a traumatic experience is saved in memory. Memories of trauma contain information about the danger during the event. The memory helps us be aware of when we should be afraid, how to feel in that situation, and what to think.
The trauma memory gives information that may help us stay safe. This can happen without you even being aware. Sometimes even parts of the memory that seem unrelated can start to signal danger in a way that is unhelpful, like rain being seen as dangerous for those who experienced Hurricane Katrina.
If an anniversary is a trauma reminder, it can be more intense because of media attention in the case of public events.
