Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often evolves into a chronic, life-altering condition when left untreated or inadequately managed, with research showing that 30–50% of individuals still meet diagnostic criteria 10–20 years after the original trauma. Long-term consequences include persistent hyperarousal that disrupts sleep architecture for decades (leading to chronic insomnia, nightmares, and daytime fatigue), emotional numbing that erodes close relationships and increases rates of divorce and social isolation, and heightened risk of comorbid conditions such as major depression (up to 50% lifetime prevalence), substance-use disorders (roughly 30–40% in veterans and survivors), and anxiety disorders. Physically, prolonged elevation of stress hormones contributes to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, chronic pain syndromes, autoimmune disorders, and accelerated biological aging (e.g., shortened telomeres). Cognitively, many experience enduring concentration difficulties, memory impairment, and executive-function deficits that impair work performance and increase unemployment rates. Perhaps most insidiously, untreated PTSD carries a significantly elevated risk of suicide—up to 6–13 times higher than the general population in some cohorts—making early, sustained, evidence-based treatment (trauma-focused psychotherapy and, when indicated, medication) critical to preventing these decades-long cascades of suffering.