You wouldn’t jokingly say, “Now I have cancer,” so why would you say jokingly, “Now I have PTSD?” I was watching a YouTube clip the other day of a talk show to hear what their guest had to say. She’s a well-known singer and while talking about her second pregnancy she jokingly threw out, “And now I have PTSD!” I know it was without malice and this is nothing to get in an uproar over, but for those who truly suffer, it doesn’t get much more insensitive than this.
Even worse is how her level of influence over the masses who idolizes her are likely to use it with the same lack of respect. How do I know this? A person very close to me actually does have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or as she calls it, PTSC (post-traumatic stress condition). And because of people like this singer who throw the term around as freely and jokingly as she did, it has caused it to lose its significance.
I’ve watched this person be in a situation where she more or less had to disclose it, but when she did it was passed off as being an excuse or she was asked, “How can you have it if you’re not a veteran?” and “Well, you look like you doing OK to me.” Not that she looks for special treatment, but there are some things she simply can’t do.
Want to help? Call someone out if you hear them use it jokingly and let’s get rid of the word “disorder!”
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