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Who is the Face of PTSD?
It’s more diverse than you think
I am not a soldier. I have never experienced combat. I have never been mugged, been abused, or been the victim of a hate crime. And yet, there have been times when the walls close in and my breathing tightens. And in these moments, I live in the past, both in the room around me, and several miles, and years, away.
I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an illness whose face is most often male, is often scarred, and yet, I am neither of these things. For many, “PTSD” conjures battle fatigue, of the returning soldier, male in the imagination, who can’t control his emotions, of backlogged rooms full of disability applications. And perhaps this is the face of PTSD, because it is the the easiest for the public imagination to wrap its head around: War is a highly traumatic event. Therefore, those who experience war can suffer from that trauma. On some level, it is seen as part of the sacrifice that soldiers make for their country. Not only are they giving their lives, they are also giving their future, and their minds. Based on this idea of nobility, we have begun to, as a culture, accept that battle scars are not always visible. But what of those of us who did not intend to make a sacrifice? What of those of us who are not suffering for a greater good? How does society conceive of our illnesses?
