PTSD Is Normal

Opinion piece on Chattanoogan.com
Denny Haldeman
Soddy Daisy

PTSD Is Normal
posted June 23, 2008

The recent coverage of Post Traumatic Stress "Disorder" in veterans is long overdue and brings out important aspects of this affliction that affects millions of veterans, their families and friends, as well as others in our society. I am compelled to ponder this in honor of yet another brother who finally succumbed to a war wound of the soul long ago, who found final peace by his own hand.

By calling post traumatic stress, this natural response to the fight or flight chemistry of our brains, a "disorder," it automatically stigmatizes those who are affected by PTSD. It's no wonder that half of our recent veterans affected by PTSD will not seek help for now, in large part because of that stigma of a "disorder" or a weakness, and the implications that go with it professionally and personally. The psychological/emotion/physical response to the horrors of war are every bit as much a wound to be expected, as the bullet or bomb that mangle the physical bodies of those thrust into harm's way.
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