A veteran of the war in Afghanistan was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . The veteran says, "If there's a loud noise at night, I get under my bed because I think we're getting bombed." What type of experience has the veteran described?

A) Illusion
B) Flashback
C) Nightmare
D) Auditory hallucination

Flashbacks are dissociative reactions in which an individual feels or acts as if the traumatic event were recurring. Illusions are misinterpretations of stimuli; although the experience is similar, the more accurate term is flashback because of the diagnosis of PTSD. Auditory hallucinations have no external stimuli. Nightmares commonly accompany PTSD, but this experience is stimulated by an actual environmental sound.