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People with post-traumatic stress disorder often experience feelings of panic or extreme fear, which may resemble what was felt during the traumatic event.

A teenager may be deeply upset by a traumatic event, but not share their feelings with their parents.

Teenagers may turn to friends rather than parents for support in times of trauma and distress.

Traumatic events usually happen quickly and chaotically. A near-miss experience occurs when you are involved in a traumatic event where you think you will die or be badly hurt, but are not. This can have a deep psychological impact, sometimes with lasting effects

There are things you can do to try to help someone who has been through a distressing or frightening event.

If you have survived a traumatic event, whether you were injured or not, it's important to recognise that trauma also causes emotional harm. Survival is often associated with complex emotional reactions that cause distress and make it hard to resume everyday life after the event. These are known as ‘survivor reactions’.

Preschoolers may not have the words but will show their distress at traumatic events through changes in behaviour and functioning.

When a family is affected by trauma, everyone will react in a different way.

Some survivors of torture and trauma live with their memories for years, or even for the rest of their lives.

It is normal for you to have strong reactions following a distressing or scary event. A distressing event could be, a bushfire or flood, a crime or act of violence against you, a car accident, being physically or sexually assaulted, seeing photos, news reports or social media posts about distressing events.