When you ask what about those who are victims of crime, deceit etc., my response is that I care about them just as much as I do about military-linked PTSD. I know it is not fashionable to say this, but I care about whoever is struggling with PTSD, regardless of cause. PTSD does not care how a person became traumatized. Trauma comes in all types. I care about anyone who is hurting – I hope you do too.

Your statement about military personeel knowing what they were getting into when they signed their service contract is mistaken on two grounds. First, drafted soldiers did not choose to sign up. Second, the way military service is marketed to the young – they do use advertising to recruit them, after all – means that most people do not fully know what they are getting into Some youngsters have been told by recruiters thatthey would never see combat or hardship..hardly the truth. Even if someone fully, intellectually understood what they might experience in the military, most still cannot fathom the experience until they have actually experienced the trauma.

You ask about why is there not a simple PTSD diagnosis for all, civilian and military. Actually, there is. If you look at DSM-IV and the upcoming DSM-V, the criteria for PTSD are not limited to or exclusive to only military trauma. That people have caused the survivors of civililan-based trauma to feel diminished compared to military-based trauma is unfortunate and wrong. Every life, no matter how it is lived, whether civilian or military has value. That includes your life. You, too, have value.

While my own PTSD stems from military service, and I was not a draftee, I am sympathetic to anyone who has been trauamtized and now has PTSD. You have value – and so does the life and journey of all others. I wish you peace.
Semper Pax, Dr. Z