Your Guide to Understanding PTSD

March 4, 2016 / Christine Deneweth

(Content Warning: Detailed description of PTSD symptoms)

There are still many common misconceptions about PTSD – and they’re seriously hurting people who are already suffering after a traumatic event.

So here’s a comic that makes the facts clear. Find out exactly what PTSD is and how it shows up in people’s daily lives, so you can avoid falling for the hurtful misconceptions.

This will show you how to support people with PTSD, and why it makes such a big difference to do so.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

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Click for the Transcript

Panel 1

Text: All about PTSD

Panel 2

Jenny talking and smiling. She has black hair and is wearing a green shirt.

Jenny: Hi, my name is Jenny, and I have PTSD. Each day is a struggle, but there was one day in particular that stood out.

Panel 3

Jenny smiling at her friend Leo. Leo has black curly hair and a blue long-sleeved shirt.

Text: I was with my friend Leo. He wanted to grab some ice cream, and I was already anxious about it.

Panel 4

Leo and Jenny standing in front of Freezy’s ice cream

Text: We went to a place called Freezy’s, and my worst fear came true.

Panel 5

Jenny, crying

Text: Freezy’s was somewhere my dad used to take me. I immediately burst into tears.

Panel 6

Jenny, turning the page

Text: To understand why this upset me so much, let’s break down what exactly PTSD is and my story.

Panel 7

Jenny, talking

Jenny: PTSD is a psychiatric injury that occurs when someone experiences a traumatic event.

Panel 8

Scared-looking soldier

Text: The most common example is a soldier who has been through a war.

Panel 9

Little girl, frowning

Text: But the people most likely to have it are people who have experienced domestic trauma, especially children.

Panel 10

Man, frowning, thinking about a storm cloud

Text: So what does it look like?

Text: The most common symptom is flashbacks, or reliving the trauma.

Panel 11

Woman, scared in bed

Text: People with PTSD also have vivid nightmares and disrupted sleep.

Panel 12

Jenny, walking past Freezy’s ice cream

Text: Some people may have avoidance where they won’t talk about certain things or go to some places that may trigger them.

Panel 13

Woman, scanning sorroundings

Text: Some people may be hypervigilant, which means they are always alert to unknown danger.

Panel 14

Jenny, talking and smiling. She has black hair and is wearing a green shirt.

Jenny: Hypervigilance is ofter confused for paranoia. Paranoia is feelings of persecution. Hypervigilance is feelings of vulnerability and victimisim.

Panel 15

Person in a “no” cross sign

Text: Paranoia is thinking someone is out to get you, while hypervigilance is being alert to danger.

Panel 16

Man, frowning

Text: Paranoia is usually a symptom of psychosis. But you absolutely can have psychosis and PTSD.

Panel 17

Man, startled by thinking of a storm cloud

Text: People who have psychosis and PTSD have flashbacks so vivid that they can believe they are real and happening.

Panel 18

Brain vs storm cloud

Text: But remember, psychosis has to do with brain chemistry, and PTSD has to do with external events.

Panel 19

Jenny, talking

Jenny: People don’t understand how much of a struggle it is to live with PTSD.

Panel 20

Jenny, talking

Jenny: It isn’t something to be joked about. It’s a real problem that seriously affects people’s daily lives. Not taking it seriously causes harm, marginalizes people, and can prevent people from getting help.

Panel 21

Jenny, talking and holding her hand up and pointing

Jenny: Correct people if you see them making jokes about PTSD. And allow people who have it to have a voice.

Panel 22

Jenny, frowning

Text: So what happened to me?

Panel 23

Image of Jenny’s dad and her frowning in the corner

Text: My dad had a sudden heart attack and died before I could get help.

Panel 24

Jenny, crying

Text: I see it happen every day, and I feel guilty that I wasn’t able to get help.

Panel 25

Jenny, crying, and Leo, looking concerned.

Text: So when I saw Freezy’s again, all I could think of was Dad.

Panel 26

Jenny and Leo, hugging

Text: Luckily Leo knows about my PTSD and quickly realized I’d been triggered, and he took me home.

Panel 27

Jenny and Leo, eating ice cream on the couch

Text: Having supportive friends both online and in person is my saving grace. Leo and I ate ice cream at home instead.

To learn more about this topic, check out:

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Christine Deneweth is a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism. A queer cartoonist and artist, Christine lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She is a cartoonist for Eastern Michigan University’s newspaper the Eastern Echo. She writes children’s books about mental disability and has a comic strip that has been published for five years. Comics can be found on her Facebook page, and art can be found on her Instagram @crassaster. Check out her work here!