We all get broken – the truth of PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD is the “…development of characteristic symptoms….”. The key word there from the DSM-V is development. PTSD develops. I like to think of it as being broken. Life can break us in a million different ways and when that brokenness happens to meet the criteria in the DSM-V, it is called PTSD. This is the truth of PTSD and we shouldn’t run from it. You can only find hope when you face the truth.

Never has a word carried so much unnecessary stigma and shame. PTSD doesn’t mean “crazy vet” or “scary person” or “scarred human” it simply means someone who has been broken by life. It can happen to any of us. No one is immune. Throw enough pain, heartbreak, and horror at anyone and they will break. I have met thousands of people suffering from PTSD – from combat soldiers to young abused children, from firefighters to people who have been assaulted – there life paths might be different, but the result is the same, brokenness.

Also in the DSM-V are some terms illustrating factors that increase the risk of PTSD and clearly show how PTSD is something that develops. They really are just fancy words for life.

Pretraumatic – these are things that happen to us before the traumatic event that triggers PTSD. Any adversity, trauma, social situation, family situation, can contribute to this from any time in our life before the event.

Peritraumatic – this has to do with the actual trauma. How severe it was, was it interpersonal violence, were you close to another person who was involved, how threatened was your life, were you physically hurt, etc.

Posttraumatic – this is after the event. Are you exposed to reminders, do you have other adverse life events, do you have other losses such as financial or personal, do you have good social support, have you received negative feedback, etc.

So you see, PTSD is life. The truth of PTSD is that there should be no shame. It can happen to anyone. You put anyone in enough horrible, hard to imagine, inhuman positions, they will crack. They will do things they are ashamed of. They will break.

Getting better starts with recognizing we all get broken. That is the first step in overcoming the stigma and shame of PTSD that keeps many from getting help.

Here is a short video on YouTube I did talking about how we all get broken. Please check it out and share. It is a powerful reminder to look out for each other because all of us have cracks. We need to help each other understand and hold on so that we can regain hope and change our lives.

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