Post: Acute stress and early signs of PTSD are common in firefighters and other first responders − here’s what to watch out for

The thousands of firefighters and other first responders on the front lines of the fires that are raging in the Los Angeles area are at increased risk for anxiety, depression, acute stress and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Amanda Mascarelli, The Conversation U.S.’s senior health and medicine editor, spoke with Ian H. Stanley , a clinical psychologist and emergency medicine researcher , about the early signs of acute stress or PTSD and how you can help if a loved one is experiencing these symptoms.

How does PTSD differ in the short term versus the long term?

Post-traumatic stress disorder , or PTSD, is a mental health condition that develops following exposure to a life-threatening event such as a wildfire, a car accident, physical assault or combat. It involves the development of characteristic symptoms that are brought on or that worsen following the trauma and that persist for at least a month .

The symptoms range from nightmares to reliving the event to feelings of guilt and hopelessness or of hypervigilance, meaning constantly being on guard for future threats. Symptoms may also involve sleep disturbances, as well as avoiding certain triggers or reminders of the event. One other important point is that those symptoms must also involve considerable distress or some level of impairment in someone’s life, such as interrupting relationships, work, school or self-care, for instance.

What are potential early signs of acute stress or PTSD?

In this acute phase, as first responders are working the fires, although it’s incredibly stressful, they are trained to put their heads down and push through really difficult events. That doesn’t mean they won’t be affected by it, but in the immediate phase you might not see a lot of symptoms.

But that doesn’t mean they might not then go on to develop symptoms, such as feelings of sadness, irritability or persistent sleep disturbances. Over the longer term, some may develop post-traumatic stress disorder. So, it’s important that people remain vigilant to their mental health and that of others around them.

The biggest things to look out for are any kind of notable changes. There […]

Acute stress and early signs of PTSD are common in firefighters and other first responders − here’s what to watch out for