Some members of the Army hope that renaming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as an injury will encourage more soldiers to seek help.Nov. 4, 2011 - The nation's second-highest ranking Army officer is calling on mental health professionals to change the name of the condition that has afflicted hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers. But some of those doctors are resisting the change.
The term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, carries a stigma that has discouraged too many soldiers from understanding the condition and seeking proper treatment, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff told the PBS NewsHour. He would like to see PTSD called Post Traumatic Stress Injury, or PTSI, instead.
"It is an injury," Chiarelli said. Calling the condition a "disorder" perpetuates a bias against the mental health illness and "has the connotation of being something that is a pre-existing problem that an individual has" before they came into the Army and "makes the person seem weak," he added.
"It seems clear to me that we should get rid of the 'D' if that is in any way inhibiting people from getting the help they need," Chiarelli said. Calling it an injury instead of a disorder "would have a huge impact," encouraging soldiers suffering from the condition to seek help, according to the four-star general. read more>>>
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