Why PTSD Awareness Month Matters at Work

There’s a peculiar honesty in acknowledging that most wounds are invisible.

In June, PTSD Awareness Month, the American workplace gets an uncomfortable reminder: you can’t spot resilience or suffering just by looking.

Trauma, and the long shadow it casts, is everywhere. Maybe in the colleague who’s quiet in meetings, maybe in the manager who can never quite relax, maybe in the overachiever who never takes a day off. If you work with people, you’re working with trauma.

The numbers make it explicit: about 6% of Americans will experience PTSD at some point, and millions live with it right now (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2023).

That’s not a marginal issue. It’s a hidden current shaping teams, productivity, trust, and even who stays or leaves.

The trouble is, in most organizations, mental health is still something whispered about—or, worse, reduced to a campaign and forgotten by July.

What PTSD Actually Means—for Employees and Workplaces

Let’s be clear: PTSD isn’t only about combat veterans. It can follow accidents, assaults, disasters, or the quiet, chronic stressors that accumulate over time (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022).

Symptoms range from trouble concentrating, insomnia, and anxiety, to full-blown flashbacks. The world feels less safe, and that sense of vigilance or disconnect shows up in the office too—missed deadlines, short fuses, or a withdrawal from teamwork.

No one asks for it. Few people disclose it.

Meanwhile, mental health disorders, PTSD included, are among the leading causes of disability and lost productivity in the U.S. (American Psychiatric Association, 2023).

If that doesn’t make it a business concern, what does?

How Trauma Hides And What Real Support Looks Like

So what do most companies do? The minimal. Maybe a webinar. Maybe a memo about the Employee Assistance Program, sent once a year.

But what about the reality? How many people trust their manager enough to admit they’re struggling? How many believe they won’t be sidelined if they ask for support?

Educate and Actually Mean It

Genuine support starts with education, not just for HR, but for every leader and every peer.

We all need to know the basics: what PTSD is, how it can manifest, and why the classic “just power through” advice is toxic.

Training managers to recognize warning signs and respond with empathy, not suspicion or irritation, can change someone’s experience of work entirely (National Institute of Mental Health, 2023).

Accommodations: Not Charity, Just the Law

The ADA requires reasonable accommodations for PTSD—flexible schedules, remote work, quiet spaces, time off for therapy, the ability to step out if panic strikes (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2023).

But legal compliance should be the floor, not the ceiling. If your organization only does the bare minimum, you’re not trauma-informed—you’re just not breaking the law.

Psychological Safety Is Everything

Harvard Business Review didn’t mince words: psychological safety is what separates high-performing teams from everyone else (Harvard Business Review, 2017).

That means employees feel safe enough to share ideas, voice concerns, and—yes—disclose when they’re struggling.

Building this culture requires trust, real listening, and a willingness to address uncomfortable truths.

Real Resources, No Stigma

Offer mental health benefits, EAPs, and access to counseling—but don’t just put the info on a portal and call it a day.

Make sure people know about these resources and understand there’s no shame in using them.

Remind your teams regularly. Share the National Center for PTSD’s resources openly.

Train Leadership in Trauma-Informed Practices

If leadership doesn’t understand trauma, the message never makes it to the front lines.

Trauma-informed principles—safety, trust, choice, collaboration, empowerment—should inform how teams are managed, not just how crises are handled (SAMHSA, 2014).

It’s Not Just About June

PTSD Awareness Month is a reminder, not a solution.

The real work is year-round. Employees want to feel like more than a risk to be managed. They want to belong, to be seen as whole people, to know their struggles are not disqualifying.

Supporting those living with trauma is not about charity or pity. It’s about equity, retention, and simple humanity.

The best organizations make mental health inclusion part of daily life, not just a seasonal campaign.

They recognize the courage it takes to show up at all.

If You’re an Employer: A Challenge

How safe would you feel disclosing a struggle here?

What would happen if you did?

What would happen if your most talented employee burned out because they felt they couldn’t ask for help?

Every leader should ask: are we building a place where people can be whole, or are we just pretending?

If You’re an Employee: You Are Not Alone

If you’re struggling, you’re not the only one.

There’s nothing weak or “broken” about living with trauma. The bravest thing you can do is keep going—and, when you’re ready, ask for what you need.

Conclusion

Let’s make this month—and every month—a little safer, a little more honest, a little more human.

The workplaces that thrive will be those that learn to treat invisible wounds with as much seriousness as visible ones.

That’s the only way forward, and it’s what I want for you—whoever you are, wherever you work.

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Sources & References

• American Psychiatric Association. (2023). What is PTSD? https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Coping with trauma and stressful events. https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/stress-coping/trauma.html

• Harvard Business Review. (2017). High-performing teams need psychological safety. Here’s how to create it. https://hbr.org/2017/08/high-performing-teams-need-psychological-safety-heres-how-to-create-it

• National Institute of Mental Health. (2023). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd

• SAMHSA. (2014). SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach (SMA14-4884). https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma14-4884.pdf

• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2023). PTSD in adults: National Center for PTSD. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp

• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2023). PTSD and other mental health conditions in the workplace: Your legal rights. https://www.eeoc.gov/ptsd-mental-health-conditions-workplace-your-legal-rights