Transcript
I think one way that I conceptualize PTSD is
as a stress injury, a psychological stress injury.
And for a lot of Veterans, it's easy to understand how
certain stress injuries can cause difficulties, like
carrying heavy packs, or wearing Kevlar,
or jumping from Humvees, for example.
It's not so easy to think about how the psychological stress
can cause also psychological injury,
so that's how I like to think of it.
Posttraumatic stress disorder does exist.
It is by definition problematic in that it causes distress
for the individual or impairment in day-to-day functioning.
And that's what's relevant about the "D" in disorder,
but it doesn't mean that the individual is disordered per se.
It does mean that there is an array of symptoms and
difficulties going on after having experienced or gone through
those events that may be causing a great deal of distress
and really should be addressed.