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@anne-of-lothlorien

Though I’ve never had PTSD, or at least what can classify medically as PTSD, I’ve lost a brother under traumatic circumstances when I was younger and been with my father and my younger sister, alone, while he was having a major heart-attack, so I can say that I know somewhat about the shock factor and the anxieties that come with traumatic events, plus I’ve done quite a bit of research on PTSD since most of my novels deal with at least one character with some form of PTSD–so I’m going to jump in and ad my two cents. (And no, my life is not as depressing as you’re thinking it is right now, both of those previously mentioned events are still a bit of a sore spot but they were both quite a while ago, so I’m not to sensitive about sharing them anymore.)

Anyhow, to add on top of what @seekjustice and @wordsmith said, PTSD deals a lot with anxiety and the natural human nature of trying to get away from what causes pain. It’s completely and utterly normal to avoid pain, but PTSD seems to turn that up to a couple levels and make the bearer directly and knowingly try to avoid anything that is correlated to their PTSD. For your character, like mentioned above, that could be smoke, fire, firecrackers, loud noises, popping sounds, guns, screeching tires, the feel of suffocation, being attached to people, dark stains, etc. There’s hundreds of things that may seem utterly normal to us but if in the right context or moment, could set her off. (By setting off, I mean anywhere from slight anxiety to a full blown panic attack. This is one thing I see a lot of people getting wrong when they try to write a character with PTSD–every time the character sees anything related to the event that caused the PTSD, they instantly just go into a panic attack or anxiety attack. Which isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s just no correct. It’s not going to happen every time–if the character has the ability to run away instead of face the fear, they’re going to do that. And that sometimes averts full-blown attacks.)

There’s a couple things I like to do when writing a character with an event-specific based PTSD(meaning one or two related events caused the PTSD, not say, a long drawn out trauma like war). One is to pick pressure points. Maybe this character cannot stand people touching his neck or back, because a villain once stuck up on him and kidnapped him from behind. Maybe this character doesn’t like wearing shoes they can’t run in, because they once got trapped somewhere and almost didn’t make it out because they were wearing dress shoes or flip flops or something. Whatever it is, pick a pressure point and exploit it. Show the character’s growth by emphasizing how naturally or unconsciously that person protects this point–and then show how they eventually over come it. Show the one character not flinching or moving away from a friendly slap on the back, and the other finally tossing the running shoes and dressing up fancy for a night out with some buddies.

Another thing is to be careful with triggers. Your character doesn’t need a mental breakdown every chapter for angst. PTSD isn’t healthy, but breaking down constantly means your character needs some serious professional help, not just some good friends. So use the triggers wisely–use the character’s personality to determine when they’ll blow. One of my characters is a naturally quiet and slightly anxious person, a perfectionist who’s always planning his next move. A trigger for him might be an unexpected action from one of his friends, or someone who’s overly excitable and loud suddenly joining their little group. But that doesn’t mean he’s likely to go and have a full-blown attack. Because he’s quiet and prefers to keep to himself, he’s not just going to show that he’s nervous or frightened around everyone. He’ll be quieter than usual, and maybe more jumpy, and avoid whatever is causing him trouble like the plague, even if it means changing his usual routine and friendships. As long as he doesn’t have to face it. And eventually, if he lets it go on long enough, everything will start building up and then he’ll blow.

So use those triggers wisely–the more build up, the more stakes and the more affect it’ll have on all the characters in your story. When my brother died, it was while we were watching a movie late one night. It’s a movie that I now love, but for years and years afterward I couldn’t even think of movie or the events of it. I wouldn’t speak of it or my brother, and eventually the pent-up feelings went south and I became pretty seriously depressed. Eventually I got out of that, but like I said, it left lasting effects. Use that to your advantage when you’re writing this girl’s story.

As for what qualifies as PTSD–well, PTSD is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Generally we think of it as a long term thing, but I’d say there’s short term PTSD as well, though it’s no where near as severe. I’d say your brother drowning is definitely cause you to have a water phobia and some nightmares, and maybe avoiding swimming, but falling out a tree and breaking your arm probably not.