Kate Beckinsale is giving fans an unfiltered look at what it’s like living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In a now-deleted Instagram video, the 53-year-old actress shared her thoughts on the “horror” people with PTSD go through every day. She published the message shortly after posting a series of Instagram Stories honoring her late mother, Judy Loe, who died of stage 4 cancer in July 2025.
“There are men and women and children who have seen such absolute horror or experienced such absolute horror that their nervous system is permanently altered as a result. And a lot of those people become incredibly good at masking it,” she said. “And it’s sad because they become so good that they get no grace whatsoever.”
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What Is PTSD?
PTSD is often linked to severe accidents or combat. But long-term emotional stress — like watching a loved one deal with a terminal illness — can affect your body’s nervous system just as much.
Once trauma sets in, simple everyday things can cause a physical reaction. A specific smell, a sudden noise, or a calendar date can trigger severe panic and anxiety, even when you’re in a safe place.
According to data from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 6% of U.S. adults will experience PTSD at some point in their lifetime. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop PTSD, with a lifetime prevalence of about 8%. Past-year statistics show 5.2% of women affected compared to 1.8% of men.
High-Functioning Trauma and the Pressure to Look ‘Okay’
Beckinsale pointed out how high-functioning people often hide their trauma, leading others to assume they’re doing fine just because they manage to get through the day.
“They get up, they go to work, they look after their kids, they provide for their family, they have a laugh, they’re the fun person, but they don’t sleep for more than an hour because when they do, it’s full of nightmares,” she said. “Anything — smells, sounds, thoughts, feelings — can trigger them into a place that is actually like hell.”
After reiterating that these internal struggles are invisible to outsiders, she asked her followers to show more empathy and patience in everyday interactions.
“Given the fact that it’s invisible and you can’t know, maybe err on the side of being gentler with people, being kinder,” she said. “It really is true that when you haven’t walked a mile in someone’s shoes — however fancy you think the shoes are — you have absolutely no idea what they might be carrying, masking, dealing with day and night.”
