National PTSD Awareness Day

National PTSD Awareness Day (National Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day) was officially designated in 2010 by the United States Senate with Senate Resolution 541 of the 111th Congress dedicated to creating awareness regarding PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It was acknowledged annually as June 27. In 2013, the Senate designated the whole month of June as PTSD Awareness Month. In the US, 6.8% of adults will experience PTSD in their lifetimes, with women twice as likely as men to experience it (10.4% to 5%) frequently as a result of sexual trauma. Veterans are another group highly likely to experience PTSD during their lives, with Vietnam War veterans at 30%, Gulf War veterans at 10%, and Iraq War veterans at 14%.

On this day, organizations that work with employees, consumers, and patients at risk for the condition work to get information about symptoms and treatments for it out to the public in the hopes that when more people know about the disease, more people who suffer from it will get treatment. The US Department of Defense is one of the major organizations involved.