Background: PTSD been recognized as a major problem in public health and has attracted an ever-growing scientific, epistemological and clinical interest. On the other side, PTSD is one of the most controversial diagnosis in psychiatry as well as in medicine in general.
Method: We have made an overview of available literature on PTSD to identify what is our real knowledge about PTSD with all dilemmas, controversies and challenges.
Results: We have various options as to how to evaluate, explain and describe PTSD and other trauma-related mental and somatic disorders. In this paper we compiled an extensive set of facts and meta-facts in order to to understand the real nature of traumatic stress, negative life events and PTSD.
Conclusion: Conflict between various concepts of PTSD and our current knowledge will probably bring with itself a new scientific paradigm with new diagnostic phenotypes and refining the old ones.