PTSD is the result of severe trauma.

The experience of trauma is one of complete helplessness. Individuals often report that they feel themselves to be in immediate danger but feel completely frozen and unable to escape. This freeze state compromises normal cognitive functioning.

People often report that they lose track of time and space and their capacity to use language is compromised. As a result, the brain loses its ability to process conscious memory. Confusion takes over and any attempt to recall the sequence of events is disjointed and unclear. This fuzzy recollection of the event is the unfinished business of the brain that resurfaces in the form of memory fragments, flashbacks and nightmares.