Comorbidity

If you have other anxiety disorders or depression as well as PTSD you are likely to experience greater difficulties in social and occupational functioning than someone who has PTSD only.  You may, for example, have difficulty caring for children, sustaining relationships and maintaining your job.

People who have PTSD have higher rates and risk of suicide than people without PTSD and the impact on an individual and those close to him/her is high.  The unexpected loss of a loved one is one of the most frequent precipitating events for PTSD and it is possible that suicide may create a cycle of PTSD in which the suicide of one individual precipitates PTSD in another.

Alcohol and substance abuse are often comorbid with PTSD as people try to treat themselves.  The high rate of this comorbidity also increases the social cost of PTSD in both loss of social and occupational functioning, and increases in societal problems, which coincide with substance abuse and dependence.  These include, for example, the committing of crimes to pay for the substance and the loss of the ability to care for children and self.