I agree with 3rd Horseman when he says it has to be differentiated in some way. My biggest concern- I stated before- is that the seriousness of the condition our soldiers suffer (and those who suffer serious war crimes- any number of unthinkable things) will be diluted and trivialized.
I can't believe that this would ever be the case. Anyone who treats any patient living with a mental health issue knows that not one issue is the same, and thus each new case must be dealt with slightly differently.
Someone listed a bullying site as a link for PTSD. I guess I'm quite judgemental when I say I think that bullying-while certainly stressful and unfortunate- is not on the same level of horrible as the things that many of you experience/experienced. I don't know- I've only dealt with those like you as patients- what are your personal thoughts?
Unfortunately some bullying can be quite severe and traumatic -- everything from being jumped every day after school to being sexually assaulted. Although I may be opening a completely different can of worms, I
suspect a woman who has been violated might be considered to have suffered something more traumatic than a soldier in the field, who knows very well that his/her job is a dangerous and sometimes very violent one, where their friends or they might never come home. The point -- every person reacts to various issues differently. Who are you to say that bullying, or any other manner of noncombat incidences is less stressful on a person?
I am asking what effect having more and more diagnoses of PTSD (for what really equates to common life experiences) will have on the perception of the seriousness of what our soldiers go through.
I fail to see how a wife having to deal with the injury/death of her husband can be considered a "common life experience." How about a sexual assault? Id that a "common life experience"? What you have essentially just said that any of these incidences that people might have dealt with, resulting in a diagnosis of PTS(maybe including D), is something that they should be able to handle? Again, every person deals with things differently. Let's change this to something a little more physical and tangible. Say you're in the back of a Herc and buddy next to you starts using his "boarding pass". A few others start getting a sympathetic reaction, but you are fine and it doesn't bother you one bit. Are these guys wimps? After all, a ride in a Herc is a "common life experience" in the military (or should be anyway ;D). Of course they aren't. Their bodies are all just reacting to physical stressors in their own way, which happens to be different from your own. Mental issues are dealt with the same way.
The legitimacy that was so hard won and so long in coming- the legitimacy that gives special acknowledgement to the stressors experienced by those in combat/ war and life threatening circumstances- will, I fear- be lost if the diagnostic criteria are applied to people who suffer from experiences far outside of those situations.
This statement just serves to trivialize everyone else. I would hate to have my parents treated differently (read: less than) because they are dealing with something that might have happened to me.
I am not an expert so my comment is only a guess but I would agree with you that the treatment is very similar. But then I have never argued it was not just that the wording of the diagnosis should be different.
We aren't talking about the flu or strep throat. Give everyone the same treatment and they will turn out fine. Mental health does NOT work that way. Similar, possibly, at the start. But each patient ends up with a method of treatment that is specialized to them. If your treatment is similar to that of a friend's it's most likely because you both share similar traits, have dealt with the same stress, and have found something that works for both of you. Either that, or you are both in the beginning stages of your treatment. However, add some time in there (10 yrs+) and you night find that your methods and treatments have differed somewhat.
What harm would be done if the diagnosis was split into several categories vice the current single heading?
Can you imaging? post-combat stress disorder...empathetic stress disorder...bullying stress disorder...lost-my-job-and-am-declaring-bankrupcy-disorder... was-sexually-abused-as-a child stress disorder...etc,etc,etc.
End note: I have said some pretty harsh things here, and if I have upset anyone in any way, I sincerely apologize. I just get annoyed when someone says that the pain one person is feeling is less important than the pain of another. I have been guilty of that myself at times. However, before anyone starts jumping down my throat asking where all this knowledge comes from, let's just chalk it up to having many friends and a bit of personal experience in the matter. That's it on that subject of me. Period.
The fact that members of the military have brought PTSD to the forfront and have had it recognized has certainly ensured that many others can get the help they need. I'm sure you know of more than a few people that would have been deemed manic depressive only a few years back when in fact they are dealing with PTS.
