History: Why June? Why June 27?
The first major step toward national recognition of PTSD came in 2010, when the U.S. Senate designated June 27 as National PTSD Awareness Day. The date honors Staff Sergeant Joe Biel, a North Dakota National Guard member who died by suicide after completing his second tour of duty in Iraq and then struggling badly with PTSD.
In 2014, the effort expanded into a month-long observance, becoming what we now know as PTSD Awareness Month. The goal was to give individuals and communities more time and opportunity to educate others, host events, and increase visibility for trauma survivors.
The legacy of Sgt. Biel and the millions who still battle PTSD silently drives this annual campaign of PTSD month forward.
National PTSD Awareness Month is observed every June to increase public understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder and to encourage those affected to seek help. While PTSD is often associated with combat veterans, it affects millions of people across the U.S., including survivors of abuse, accidents, natural disasters, and other traumatic events.
The month focuses on:
Why PTSD Awareness Matters
According to the National Center for PTSD, about 6% of Americans will experience PTSD in their lifetime, and around 12 million adults in the U.S. struggle with it each year. Yet, many don’t seek help due to shame, stigma, or misinformation.
Raising PTSD awareness helps to:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is often misunderstood, misrepresented, and far too often, dismissed. Yet for countless Veterans, First Responders, and survivors of trauma, it’s a daily battle. You can’t see it on a scan. You can’t stitch it up or cast it. But it’s real. And it deserves recognition, compassion, and action.
Understanding Trauma Beyond the Battlefield and Why Healing Is Possible
When many people hear the term Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), they often think exclusively of combat veterans. While military trauma is an important and deeply respected cause of PTSD, trauma can affect anyone. Every day, individuals experience events that overwhelm the brain and nervous system’s ability to cope and the psychological effects can linger long after the event itself has ended.
Trauma Can Take Many Forms
PTSD may develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. These experiences can include:
For some individuals, the trauma may have happened years ago. Others may not initially recognize their symptoms as trauma-related because they have spent so much time adapting to survival mode.
Symptoms People Often Normalize
Many people with PTSD continue functioning outwardly while struggling internally. Symptoms are sometimes dismissed as “stress,” “anxiety,” or simply part of someone’s personality.
Common symptoms may include:
Hypervigilance
Constantly feeling “on edge,” scanning for danger, or struggling to relax even in safe environments.
Emotional Numbing
Feeling disconnected from emotions, relationships, or activities once enjoyed. Some people describe it as feeling emotionally “flat” or detached.
Sleep Disturbance
Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, nightmares, or waking with anxiety and tension.
Avoidance
Avoiding certain places, conversations, memories, or situations connected to traumatic experiences.
Irritability and Anger
PTSD can affect emotional regulation, sometimes leading to increased frustration, outbursts, or emotional reactivity.
Difficulty Concentrating
Trauma can affect attention, memory, and executive functioning, making work, school, and daily responsibilities harder to manage.
Trauma affects both the mind and body. The nervous system may remain in a heightened state of alertness long after the danger has passed.
Trauma Can Change the Brain, but Healing Is Possible
One of the most important truths about PTSD is this: you can heal. With the right support, resources, and therapeutic methods, recovery is not only possible but also happening every day for thousands of Veterans and first responders across the country.
PTSD rewires the brain’s response systems, but the brain is also incredibly resilient. Through trauma-informed therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), group counseling, service animals, peer mentorship, and even physical activity, many Heroes are learning how to live with their trauma instead of under it. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting, it means learning to feel safe again, to reconnect with others, and to reclaim your peace.
It takes time. It takes work. But more than anything, it takes hope, and the willingness to believe that your life still has chapters left to be written. You are not weak for needing help. You are strong for staying.
Evidence-Based Treatments for PTSD
There is no one-size-fits-all treatment approach, but several evidence-based therapies have shown strong effectiveness for PTSD.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps individuals identify and challenge unhelpful thought patterns connected to trauma.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a specialized therapy designed to help the brain process traumatic memories in a healthier way.
Trauma-focused therapies can help reduce avoidance, improve emotional regulation, and decrease distress associated with traumatic memories.
Medication Options
Certain antidepressants, particularly SSRIs, may help reduce symptoms such as anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and mood disturbances associated with PTSD. Medication decisions should always be individualized based on symptom severity, medical history, and patient preferences.
Emerging and Advanced Treatments
For some individuals with treatment-resistant symptoms, newer interventions may be considered under psychiatric supervision.
Ketamine-Based Treatments
Ketamine has gained increasing attention for its potential role in treatment-resistant depression and trauma-related symptoms in certain patients.
Spravato for treatment resistant depression and trauma related symptoms
Unlike traditional antidepressants that may take weeks to show benefits, some patients report improvement more rapidly with Spravato treatment. Because it can cause temporary dissociation, sedation, or increases in blood pressure, treatment is administered under medical supervision in a certified healthcare setting.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is a noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate targeted areas of the brain. While commonly associated with depression treatment, research into its role in trauma-related disorders continues to expand.
Reducing the Stigma Around Trauma
One of the biggest barriers to treatment is the belief that someone’s trauma is “not bad enough” to seek help. Trauma is not measured by comparison. Two people can experience the same event and respond very differently.
Mental health care should not be reserved only for moments of crisis. Early recognition and support can improve outcomes and help prevent symptoms from becoming more severe over time.
Final Thoughts
PTSD is not limited to one profession, background, or life experience. Trauma can affect individuals quietly and invisibly, often while they continue trying to meet the demands of everyday life.
Awareness matters because understanding leads to compassion, both for others and for us.
Healing from trauma is rarely immediate, but with evidence-based treatment, support, and patience, recovery is possible.
