One morning I went out for pancakes and ended up sharing a booth wall with an energetic gentleman and his family. While waiting for my food to arrive, I couldn’t help but listen in on his table. He had lots of opinions and was telling stories when one of his family members asked: “So, what happened at work?”
The conversation died. After a full minute, he finally responded. “Jerry, threw me under the bus with the whole PTSD thing.”
Silence.
“He really messed up the car I was working on and I was getting so pissed, and he was all up in my face saying, ‘What, are you going to have an episode?!’ Sure, I know I get heated and it’s hard to control that, but I he didn’t have to throw it in my face like that.”
A younger man at the table put his hand on his shoulder “you know that guy’s a jerk, don’t let him get to you.”
“I know. It’s just not fair, because I know they took his side,” was the last thing I heard on the matter.
The truth about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is that anyone can experience it. Even the United States Department of Veteran Affairs has chosen to simply post the definition directly from the DSM-V without any sort of asterisk or simplification for those not serving in the military. No one is shielded and even indirect trauma (such as simply hearing about a loved one being hurt) can cause its onset.