The results indicated that PTSD among battered women in Israel was a common phenomenon; a substantial number (51.6 percent) of battered women met the criteria for PTSD. Examining the rates of PTSD prevalence among other types of trauma revealed that the prevalence of the disorder was considerably lower in people who had been exposed to other trauma. As a comparison, rates of PTSD ranged from 3.7 percent for men, and 5.4 percent for women for natural disasters, to 38.8 percent for other civilian traumas. Domestic violence is characterized as an interpersonal trauma that is created by offense from another human being and not by a cause of fate, destiny, or natural disaster. This trauma causes deeper and more complex symptoms because it involves the feelings that another person deliberately abuses. It was also found that interpersonal trauma caused extreme mental distress and had similar influence as chronic and repeated trauma. Subjects who developed PTSD after interpersonal trauma as adults had significantly more symptoms than victims of disasters. Victims of interpersonal trauma react with anxiety and have strong feelings of loss of control, vulnerability, and self-blame. The importance of correct diagnosis of battered women should be emphasized because the psychological state of battered women and PTSD is more severe than battered women without PTSD, including elevated risk for suicide. Data were collected from 173 women age 20 to 60 years, and divided into 3 groups: 47 subjects exposed to domestic violence and diagnosed with PTSD; 44 subjects exposed to domestic violence diagnosed without PTSD; and 82 subjects exposed to various traumas excluding interpersonal trauma. Tables, references