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I survived a touch-and-go stint in the ICU, but the fear and anxiety I felt continued long after I returned home. I share my experience with medical PTSD in a column for HealthCentral:

“EVERY NIGHT FOR the past five years, I’ve had vivid nightmares about my life being in danger. The story varies (natural disasters, zombies, serial killers), but the theme remains the same: A terrible fate awaits me, a repeated assault on my body, mind, and soul. It is without fail absolutely terrifying. Five years makes for more than 1,800 nightmares and they are never the same, each presenting a new horrific scenario.

I have medical post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and I am beginning to realize that it is chronic, just as my rheumatoid arthritis (RA). PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a traumatic event, particularly those who, for instance, have long-term exposure to a lot of stress and feelings of not being in control (hello, RA!). Unfortunately, it’s not commonly known that medical trauma can cause PTSD and it can have a profound effect on your quality of life. (A quick trigger warning that this column will discuss medical trauma.)”

Read the column about my medical PTSD on HealthCentral.