Traumatic relationships are a cause for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
You may have had an amicable break up and sailed through your divorce just fine. Not everyone gets through relationships unscathed.
In this excellent article, Wendi Schuller writes that PTSD as an “anxiety disorder caused by very stressful or distressing events.” People with PTSD have high levels of stress hormones produced even when there is no danger. PTSD is a faulty protection mechanism which is harmful to relationships.