Reply #70: Can be a symptom of PTSD

[w8liftinglady]

Avoidance symptoms, where sufferers persistently avoid stimuli associated with the trauma, withdraw from social interaction, or have difficulty responding emotionally to others. Because traumatic memories are very unpleasant, the individual tries to avoid situations, people or events which remind them of their stressors. Typical symptoms may include:
Efforts to avoid thoughts or feelings associated with the trauma.
Efforts to avoid activities or situations that arouse recollections of the trauma.
Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma (psychogenic amnesia).
Markedly diminished interest in significant activities.
Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others.
Restricted range of affect, e.g., unable to have love feelings.
Sense of a foreshortened future, e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a long life.
Substance abuse
http://vets.appliedphysics.swri.edu/patience/ptsdfaq_ray.htm