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I got in an argument yesterday with someone who told you can only get PTSD from combat. While I know this isn't true, I'd like your opinions.

It can come from accidents, robberies, abuse... pretty much anything that causes 'trauma.' Tell whoever said that to go suck it.

And after that tell them to read this.

^Seconded. PTSD stands for "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder"; says nothing about combat being the sole reason. However, people have come to associate it with those dealing with combat on a regular basis (soldiers, combat medics, etc.). Which is another example of society grossly misunderstanding mental illnesses.

Thirded.

Unless they call it PTSDDTCR (aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Due to Combat Reasons), then it's not strictly related to combat.  As mentioned anything that creates an exceptionally traumatic experience can cause PTSD.  Were you kidnapped in your life and it gives you nightmares to this day?  Did someone pull a knife or gun on you, you put good use to your self-defense classes and accidentally stabbed the attacker or accidentally pulled the trigger and shot them, killing someone for the first time in your life?  Were you in a store or bank when it was robbed, or on a plane when it was hijacked and had that fear that you may never make it home?

Those instances and more are all every day non-military related things that can cause someone to have a form of PTSD.

There is this one person who claims to have developed PTSD after she got told on the Internet. I'm pretty sure this is who the person you were talking to was thinking about, because to say that PTSD cannot be developed outside of combat is 100% lolworthy.