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I know that this is going to sound like flip remark — but I really don’t intend it to be. So let me throw out my thinking on this.

1. Stress is part of serving in a combat zone.
2. Most combat personnel & combat service support troops are going to experience stress to a some degree.
3. A psychologist can pretty much find PTSD in the majority of these troops at some point during or after their deployment.

OK... Here’s the question... Does this not reduce the Order of the Purple Heart into some sort of a “campaign ribbon”?

Do you see what I’m getting at? It’s not that PTSD sufferers are not injured. It’s more of a defense of the award.

Thanks for your thoughtful and thought-provoking post. You write:

> OK... Here’s the question... Does this not reduce the Order of the Purple Heart into some sort of a “campaign ribbon”?

It certainly would if the PTSD weren’t clinical in nature, but rather something which everybody had. And I think what you’re saying is that it would be difficult to establish that the PTSD was clinical in nature. Which I acknowledge it well could be difficult.

> Do you see what I’m getting at? It’s not that PTSD sufferers are not injured. It’s more of a defense of the award.

I can accept that argument: the Purple Heart is for injuries where blood is shed or bones are broken.

With alot of mental illnesses, it is that way. If somebody has a broken arm, you can see that and say “I bet that hurt” because the injury is obvious. Similarly if they have lost a limb or gashed themselves open: the injury is obvious so it is easily acknowledged and treated.

But for the most part, mentally ill patients do not have obvious complaints: when you look at them they look normal, when you talk to them they can even look normal. They do not appear injured; however, their injuries are very real and often more serious in nature than somebody with a broken arm or missing limb. And they often go unacknowledged and untreated as a result.

If the Purple Heart isn’t the appropriate award for mental injuries, that’s OK. My question in return would be how best to recognize somebody who has been mentally injured during war time?

You are exactly right. PTSD is real but there are acres of gray area.

I know people in the NYC area who had nothing to do with the action on September 11th but who have exhibited symptoms of PTSD since that day.

Some people are just emotionally more fragile than others.