Let’s talk about stigma …

Thanks to media coverage that verges on hysterical, people who have been diagnosed with PTSD live under a cloud of negative imagery. The stigma attached to the diagnosis is overwhelmingly negative, and often leaves PTSD survivors fearful of even admitting they have the diagnosis.

One of the tools those of us who survive with Post Traumatic Stress can use is to change our “self talk;” to change the way we think about and consider the condition. Educating ourselves, and understanding what PTS entails, is part and parcel of that process. When you learn about what causes PTS, you realize that it’s a natural defense – it’s the brain’s way of ensuring you survive extraordinary circumstances. Stop calling it a disorder – symptoms may exhibit as a psychological aberration, but the brain’s natural defense, the thing that allowed you to survive, is not a disorder.

Which brings me to the next change we should make in our self talk: we need to stop “suffering” from PTS, and recognize that we “survived” because of it, and we survive with it. Yes, the symptoms can be disabling – that’s why it’s a diagnosed disability, but we can choose to be disabled, or we can choose to overcome, and consider ourselves “differently-abled.”

There’s a serious movement in the realm of psychology to reclassify PTSD – at least in the military setting – as an occupational injury rather than a psychological one. Changing the classification opens a whole new realm of possibility in treatment – which, for Veterans, makes a lot of sense. Your occupation, as a servicemember, is what brought about the circumstances that caused the trauma. Changing occupations, and, say, learning to train and handle your PTSDog, give you a whole new mission, new outlook, and new purpose in life. Thinking of working with and training a PTSDog in these terms makes a lot of sense, and instead of being a professional servicemember whose experience created suffering, you become a survivor, whose experiences gave you a new mission … changing your self-talk, and redirecting your life and purpose.

Think about the way you think about yourself … Ask yourself, do I want to suffer, or would I like to be a survivor? Overcoming our internal stigma is the first step in overcoming the social stigma attached to those diagnosed with PTSD.