I was sadly shocked, as perhaps you were also, if you saw the recent video of 4 Marines urinating on the corpses of reported to be Taliban fighters.  What concerned me equally, however, was the question about whether these actions were caused by PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  I was listening to NPR the day after the report came out, and several callers, often veterans mentioned the term “PTS” or “PTSD” in regards to the event.  Some callers expressed disgust, anger, shame or other intense feelings regarding the behaviors of those caught on video.  A few callers stated they felt that “PTSD” was no excuse for the behavior, and others mentioned that some of the soldiers on the video were known to them and that this was only their first deployment, indicating that ‘PTSD’ could not be a reason/justification for the actions.  Still others commented that unless all circumstances were known leading up to the events, it was impossible to pass judgment on the soldiers. 

During the radio discussion it became apparent that some servicemen/veterans still view PTSD as some kind of copout, a way to avoid responsibility for one’s own actions, etc...  There is still a lot of controversy among servicemen and women, about what PTSD is, and specifically, how it is viewed by those currently serving in our military.  Is it an excuse to ‘wimp out, complain, shirk one’s duty, get a cheap discharge’, or is it a legitimate cause for why so many soldiers returning home have sleep disorders, marital/family chaos, and a host of other adjustment disorders following their war experiences?

The “essential feature” of PTSD, according to the DSM-IV, is “the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor involving  direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or other threat to one’s physical integrity; or witnessing an event that involves death, injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of another person; or learning about unexpected or violent death, serious harm, or threat of death or injury experienced by a family member or other close associate.”  Moreover, the response” must involve intense fear, helplessness, or horror (adults)”.   The most common symptoms of PTSD include:  increased arousal (i.e., difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, and hypervigilance/startle response), efforts to avoid things associated w/ the trauma (including activities, places, or people that are reminders of the trauma), diminished interest in significant events, and feeling s of detachment from others.  Basically, people who have PTSD tend to avoid any and all stimuli which relate to the past traumatic event as well as a “numbing of general responsiveness”.

It is easy to see from this information that we can be significantly traumatized in many ways, and that war experiences are probably among the most horrific events causal to the disorder.  This also points out the importance of our growing need to learn how we can deal with trauma, either as trauma survivors, as relatives of survivors, or even as therapists who work with veterans and other trauma victims.