[DoughtyOne]

I believe most of the stress associated with the onset and progression of this disease had to do with the terror instilled in the infected individuals prior to their procurement of the disease. I'm not going to dismiss the reality of their condition, but the fact is most of them probably expected to die, the way this issue has been presented to the health care and public at large.

[Judith Anne]

I think the article mentioned that the two weeks of isolation were one of the most stressful things about the illness. No doubt the nurses in the article had seen the effects of the illness on their patients, and nothing about their own symptoms was news to them. I doubt they were shocked.

[TaxRelief]

The stress of knowing that you have an acute,life-threatening disease, coupled with the physical demands the body has just experienced, must be intense. However, is it not premature to apply the "post traumatic stress disorder" diagnosis ? These folks would naturally still be emotionally distraught.

There have been numerous studies concerning the hypochondriac effects of preliminary diagnoses of physical and mental conditions. The end result is that "victims" need an inner strength of character to overcome the potentially negative effects stemming from the tendency of the medical profession to "push" them into a labeled condition.