If PTSD wasn't such an easy malady to fake, the treatment methods results wouldn't be so easy to fake. I have been in more than one VA facility waiting room and even a few group sessions where the majority of the chatter was what to tell the shrink to work for that golden 100% rating. These 'studies' will produce whatever results the study managers want.
As far as treatments, do I really care if i'm T-boned on the road by a stoned driver, drunk driver or oxycontin buzzed driver, anti depressant drugged driver ? Nope! They're all bad results. The bad outcome that this PTSD diagnosing flood can produce in the long run will be when it gets categorized as a serious mental illness. That they will find a bitter pill to swallow as mental health maladies are at the forefront of the 'you cannot take care of yourself' age. Can't handle your money, can't drive, can't have a gun et al.
Personally I think a VA golden 100% rating will come back to bite the recipients as the liberal state decides they are too mentally ill to exist.
For any vet suffering from PTSD please look into the treatment offered free of charge by Emory
Your other points are spot on
According to my Mom, my Dad - WW2 in P-47s, Korea in A-26s, killed in Vietnam - had nightmares for years. He’d be sweating, shaking, and she would wake him up. He never told her what the nightmares were about.
He also didn’t drink or use drugs. He married after WW2, raised 2 kids, rose to the rank of Colonel with a high school diploma. Like my uncle who went thru Omaha beach and the uncle who had 3 ships sink under him, he went on with life. NO drugs. All had an occasional beer, but I never saw them drunk. All raised good families.
I 100% believe PTSD happens and is real. I also 100% believe a LOT of folks are claiming it for the $$$.