Many of us in the Vietnam veteran community, and earlier conflicts, do take 'disorder' out when discussing PTS, we will still use it occasionally in discussions with civilians who are now finally paying attention, even to the fact that PTS is not only related to combat nor just to soldiers of.
Army 1st Sgt. Raymond Dakos, assigned to 1-66th Armor, 4th Infantry Division, patrols near Combat Outpost Kowall near the village of Tabin on Tuesday in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan. Some mental health professionals want to do away with the stigma of stress that combat causes by no longer calling it a "disorder." (Photo by Haraz N. Ghanbari - Associated Press)
March 11, 2011 - Soldier's heart, shell shock, war neurosis, combat fatigue ---- and now, especially for the last decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, post traumatic stress disorder.
Through the ages all have denoted the deleterious affects of combat on mental health that, depending on the numbers you believe, afflicts 15 to 40 percent of all combat veterans.
Whatever the name, those affected by it typically experience intrusive thoughts, intense startle responses and often attendant depression and self-medication.
The million-dollar question is, how can more troops be prodded toward seeking help?
Some in the veteran community suggest a marketing makeover. Specifically, dropping the "D" for "disorder" from PTSD nomenclature to lower the stigma quotient.
"When you tell anybody they have a disorder, they look at it as an emotional weakness of some sort," said Bill Rider, president and co-founder of the Oceanside-based American Combat Veterans of War. "It is not a disorder." {continued}
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