Breaking the Stigma of PTSD

A few weeks ago, I was in my diversity class; for the first ten to fifteen minutes of the class every day, we discuss current events. One student brought up a news story in which a man shot and killed his family. The student ended her story in the hushed tone someone would use at the side of a loved one’s deathbed, saying “And he was a veteran.” The teacher nodded understandingly, and said in the same tone, “Yeah, so he probably had PTSD.” I sat there silently fuming, debating whether or not to angrily argue with the teacher on that point. It seemed to me that in a class where the entire purpose is to discuss and break down stereotypes, it would be inappropriate for someone to suggest that “veteran” automatically means “PTSD”. The topic changed, and I tried to forget about it. Then again this morning, another story about a veteran was brought up, and the teacher responded the exact same way as she had a few weeks ago. Telling a class of 25 why that’s ignorant wouldn’t really satisfy me, so I decided to explain it to you here.

1.    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

We’ll start with a little bit of background. According to the Veterans Administration, PTSD can occur after witnessing or being involved in a shocking event. PTSD is most likely to occur if, during the trauma, the victim felt their life or a life of a loved one was in danger, if they were made to feel helpless, or if the trauma was severe (possibly resulting in injury) or long-lasting. It’s also more likely if the victim has suffered prior trauma or mental illness. There are many more factors that may play into developing the disorder.

2.             Most Veterans Do Not Suffer From PTSD

The VA reports that 11-20% of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans suffer from PTSD in a year. 30% of Vietnam veterans and 12% of Desert Storm veterans have also suffered from the disorder at some point in their lifetimes. In no way am I suggesting that these are small numbers- that translates to millions of veterans who are suffering. I am, however, suggesting that a) assuming all veterans have PTSD is ignorant (many veterans never see combat anyway) and b) assuming that PTSD is a prevalent cause of mass shootings is also ignorant.

3.             Many Non-Veterans Do Suffer from PTSD

Again according to the VA, 60% of American men and 50% of American women will experience a severe trauma in their lives. Women are most likely to experience sexual abuse, both during childhood and as adults, while men are most likely to experience accidents, assault, or witnessing a death. Of those women, 10% will develop PTSD, as will 4% of men. That’s 8 million Americans a year, most of whom are not veterans.

4.             PTSD Turns Sufferers Inward

Shame, guilt and detachment. Flashbacks, fear and depression. Those suffering from PTSD, veteran or otherwise, are far more likely to disengage from society and even attempt suicide than they are to commit violent acts against others. From 2001-2008, there were 121 cases of veterans returning from deployment who killed someone after their return. That may seem like a lot, but bear in mind that as of this writing, nearly 5,000 people in the United States have been murdered since January 1st of this year. On the other hand, there is a widely-cited and sometimes disputed statistic suggesting that 22 combat veterans commit suicide every day.

Some of you will think that because I am a veteran I am being overly sensitive taking offense to those comments. I won’t disagree with you: I am sensitive about it. I was sensitive when I would tell people I was in the military and they would ask what branch my husband was in, or when someone would tell me I was too pretty to be in the military. I was sensitive when I separated from the USAF and I couldn’t find a job for six months because there was a stigma in the town against hiring veterans. We put our lives on hold and give up years to serve our country, so I feel like I have earned the right to be sensitive about it.

To read about supporting veterans instead of stigmatizing us, please click here.

Picture links:

https://www.barendspsychology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/PTSD-Trauma.jpg

http://www.militarycounselingcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/PTSDbrain1.jpg

http://aspirewellnessclinic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ptsd-injury.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/posttv-thumbnails-prod/thumbnails/54637671e4b0eae0bd838397/20141112ptsd.jpg

http://traumadissociation.com/images/Causes-of-PTSD-graph.jpg

http://www.familyofavet.com/images/ptsd_invisible_wounds.gif

http://www.infiniteunknown.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/22-US-war-veterans-commit-suicide-every-day.jpg