"Imagine a world where we can remove the stigma of PTSD to impact a willingness to seek out treatment"

The insurmountable traumatic stress experiences that individuals are frequently exposed to, when serving as a first responder and a military member, are far too great to ignore or to stigmatize.

First responders (Police, fire-fighters, EMS, etc.) and some members in the military are frequently exposed to traumatic events consistently. They’re expected to respond and execute training to address these events and then go about their day. Then they have to go home and do life with their kids and their spouses/partners without taking a beat to process. Despite some of the organizational resources that have been put in place at these organizations. Many members engage in suppressing the impact and toll of what they just experienced to prevent burdening their families.

When it comes to “the job”, the expectation is that you engage in what you were trained to do but never talk about it. Never talk about how it impacted you because if you do, that must mean something is wrong with you. The moment these conversations breathe into life, that is the moment that these members begin to experience stigma! The belief associated with that stigma is that if you experience sadness, shock, anger, or any of the appropriate feelings that come with witnessing/or being engaged in these traumatic events, then you are weak, not cut out for the job; and their reality is that they signed up for this. So, messages are passed such as, “suck it up”, “If you can’t hack it- then this is not the job for you”, or “We’ve all been there, you’ll get used to it”, they start to ensue, and become the norm. Members begin to experience depression, anxiety, and physical illnesses that they’ve never had, because of not talking about it, not seeking out support.  

Enough!

While 70% of the world (global-psychotrauma.net) has experienced some form of a traumatic life-event in their lifetime, First responders and the military population are engaged/exposed to traumatic events frequently, and sometimes daily!

When an individual experiences a traumatic event a multitude of physiological, psychological, and emotional effects begin to occur; not everyone will have a traumatic stress response. If you do experience a traumatic stress response, know that this is a normal and appropriate response to an abnormal circumstance. This impact can be subtle, short, or long-term. This impact does not define who you are as an individual, as a first responder, or as a military member. This does not equate to an inability to perform!

How a traumatic event impacts you depends on a series of life events, history, and the characteristics of the event, (National Institutes of Health.gov). Not everyone will experience the same response because it looks different for everyone. When your brain believes that you are in danger your amygdala will engage in what is called “The fight-flight-or freeze response”. Some of those responses can be translated to having an emotionally dysregulating response, feeling detached or having a lack of emotional response, numbing, physical responses such as sleep difficulties, substance use disorders, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, or dermatological disorders, and high blood pressure, just to name a few.

Not talking about it can mean the difference between life & death. If left untreated, some of these symptoms can lead to severe mental health disorders, feelings of hopelessness, or suicidal thoughts. If the impact of these abnormal events are so great, than it’s time to normalize the appropriateness of seeking out treatment when symptoms and side effects of these events occur.

So how do we break the stigma, how do we impact change?

Perhaps changing the name from PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) to PTSI (Post traumatic stress injury) may be a solution. If an individual begins to experience the symptom criteria such as:

·       Directly experiencing the traumatic event

·       Witnessing the event

·       Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to adverse details

·       Recurrent/involuntary/intrusive memories

·       Recurrent dreams/nightmares

·       Dissociative reactions such as reexperiencing the event, loss of awareness

·       Intense responses to internal/external cues

·       Avoidance of external reminders

·       Persistent and negative beliefs

·       Inability to remember

·       Diminished interest

·       Feelings of detachment

·       Inability to experience positive emotions

then this maybe indicative of a need for treatment. PTSD/PTSI is treatable! An individual can heal from this. Their response is considered an appropriate response to an abnormal circumstance. They need to begin the process of healing rather than having to justify that they can still do their job. You can still experience some of the above-mentioned symptoms and not meet criteria; if so, the benefit from treatment is far greater than the alternative.  

Dr. Eugene Lipov proposed renaming PTSD to PTSI and as a result, a recent study was performed by Stellacenter.com. This study revealed that changing the name would reduce stigma and improve hope of individuals that are more likely to seek out treatment. 3000 adults participated and 1025 completed responses were received and analyzed. The outcomes were 69% agreed with the statement, “The name PTSI would reduce the stigma associated with the term PTSD. 53% agreed that changing the name to PTSI would increase their hope in finding a solution for their symptoms. 55% agreed that the name PTSI would increase the likelihood of seeking help” (Stellacenter.com).

Imagine a world where we can remove the stigma of PTSD to impact a willingness to seek out treatment!

In June of 2023 the state of Illinois passed house bill 2805 proclaiming that June 27th of each year is to be recognized as Post Traumatic Stress Injury Day.

It is time to abolish the stigmatization of Post Traumatic Stress and start encouraging individuals to take appropriate action towards the side-effects of experiencing traumatic events. It’s time to encourage individuals that have experienced an injury such as PTSI, that it is treatable and healable.

If you are experiencing difficulties with trauma, please reach out to Rootcapcounseling.com, and seek out professional assistance towards your healing journey.