What are core features of PTSD after trauma exposure?

• A. Exposure to a traumatic event with intrusion symptoms, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition/mood, and hyperarousal.
• B. Transient confusion during stress.
• C. General anxiety without trauma exposure.
• D. Chronic sleepwalking.

Answer: (A)

PTSD hinges on a trauma-triggered set of persistent symptoms that fall into four clusters: intrusion (re-experiencing the event), avoidance of reminders, negative alterations in cognition and mood (such as distorted beliefs and persistent negative emotions), and hyperarousal or reactivity. Crucially, these symptoms must arise after exposure to a traumatic event and persist for more than a month, causing clinically significant distress or impairment. The option that includes trauma exposure plus all four symptom clusters best matches how this disorder is diagnosed in practice. Other choices describe reactions that don’t fit PTSD: transient confusion isn’t tied to a trauma-based symptom pattern; general anxiety without trauma exposure lacks the required trauma link; sleepwalking is a sleep disorder, not a trauma-related condition.