The person's response to the event must involve intense fear, helplessness, or horror (or in children, the response must involve disorganized or agitated behavior) (Criterion A2).

The characteristic symptoms resulting from the exposure to the extreme trauma include persistent reexperiencing of the traumatic event (Criterion B), persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (Criterion C), and persistent symptoms of increased arousal (Criterion D).

The full symptom picture must be present for more than 1 month (Criterion E), and the disturbance must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (Criterion F).

Traumatic events that are experienced directly include, but are not limited to, military combat, violent personal assault (sexual assault, physical attack, robbery, mugging), being kidnapped, being taken hostage, terrorist attack, torture, incarceration as a prisoner of war or in a concentration camp, natural or man-made disasters, severe automobile accidents, or being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. For children, sexually traumatic events may include developmentally inappropriate sexual experiences without threatened or actual violence or injury. Witnessed events include, but are not limited to, observing the serious injury or unnatural death of another person due to violent assault, accident, war, or disaster

Re-experiencing: This can be in the form of flash-backs, or night-mares. A special problem for officers as we frequently work the same areas where the initial trauma occurred.

Numbing: 'Psychic' numbing frequently occurs in law enforcement--it is often the only way to get through the job--nevertheless, it can be a serious symptom.

More than a month: If serious symptoms last longer, a diagnosis of PTSD may be warranted. Professional help should to be sought in these cases.

Violent assault, physical attack, sever TA's, etc.: Doctor's often fail to take these traumatic events into account when diagnosing their officer/patients.
It is, therefore, frequently up to the individual officer to advise the doctor and MAKE SURE he or she understands these issues.

Life-threatening illness: Ironically, many officer's who survive into their 40's and 50's develop symptomology after being diagnosed with heart problems, or colon or other cancer.

Helplessness can be associated in "inescapable shock." Officers who are powerless to avoid persistent inescapable shock may come to feel a deep sense of hopelessness toward their job, or family or life itself.

Distress or impairment in social, [or] occupational functioning, i.e., problems on the job or marital problems are often the first signs officers have that there is a problem.
Comments from supervisors are often, "Smith has been a good cop for a long time, now everything he does turns to shit." From significant others we hear, "Tom use to be a wonderful husband, now all he ever does is sit and watch TV." The "impairment" can often be traced back to a significant trauma experienced by the officer.
One officer told me that his therapist said he couldn't have PTSD because he hadn't been raped?! Clinicians do not always have time to listen to you--again, make sure they hear and understand what you tell them.)