What does PTSD stand for?

• A. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• B. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• C. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• D. Trauma-Related Stress Disorder

Answer: (A)

PTSD describes a psychiatric condition that follows exposure to a traumatic event and involves a lasting, clinically significant response. The four words in the name map directly to the acronym: Post- (after) Traumatic (the nature of the event) Stress (the psychological response) Disorder (the condition). The widely accepted expansion is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, with hyphenation varying by style guide but the same four components. This alignment to the standard clinical term is why it’s the best choice. Other phrasings alter either the descriptor of the event or the recognized name (for example, using trauma-related instead of post-traumatic, or differing in spacing), so they don’t match the conventional terminology used in practice and exams.