I am questioning the "D" in PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) -- is it really a "disorder?" Sometimes I hear it referred to in a radio commercial simply as PTS, without the "D" attached, which is what got me thinking about this.
It seems to me the mind and body are doing what they should do as a defense mechanism by responding immediately to sounds, smells, or activities associated with something -- or someone – that a person views as a threat or is disturbing to witness. Being nervous or anxious and other symptoms of PTS is in response to being protectively "on guard."
I wonder, then, if we are mis-using the word "disorder" for PTSD, which has a negative connotation. For sure, it is going into an extreme mode. But to me, it seems more like a "condition" needing to be tempered versus a "disorder" that needs to be reversed or stopped.
It seems to me the mind and body are doing what they should do as a defense mechanism by responding immediately to sounds, smells, or activities associated with something -- or someone – that a person views as a threat or is disturbing to witness. Being nervous or anxious and other symptoms of PTS is in response to being protectively "on guard."
I wonder, then, if we are mis-using the word "disorder" for PTSD, which has a negative connotation. For sure, it is going into an extreme mode. But to me, it seems more like a "condition" needing to be tempered versus a "disorder" that needs to be reversed or stopped.
Copyright © March 2019 by Maeke Ermarth
Cheyenne, WY
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