Redefining PTSD could backlog VA even more?

Military Looks To Redefine PTSD, Without Stigma
by LARRY ABRAMSON
May 14, 2012

The military and the Department of Veterans Affairs say they want more veterans and service members to get appropriate treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

That's why they're tweaking the way they define and treat PTSD. But if this approach works, it could add to the backlog of PTSD cases.

For years, the standard definition for post-traumatic stress disorder had a key feature that didn't fit for the military. It said that the standard victim responds to the trauma he or she has experienced with "helplessness and fear."

Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a former psychiatrist with the Army, says that may be true for civilians. But, she says, military people are trained to do just the opposite.

"When the IED, the improvised explosive device, goes off, they pick up their weapon, lay down suppressing fire, drag their buddies into safety and go on about doing what they're trained to do," she says.
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