In mental health, we use this fancy book called the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” or the “DSM.” Right now we are on the 5th version of this so people usually say DSM-5 (or DSM-5 TR since they revised some of the text). Basically, it’s a giant book that lists symptoms and criteria for a mental health professional to say “yup you have this diagnosis.” Usually as a mental health professional people will use different types of assessments to see how you meet the criteria; I personally use an assessment the Veteran’s Administration developed that looks at each criteria and really dives into if you meet the criteria or not.

Nope. Any exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence can lead to a PTSD diagnosis. Unfortunately, we know this can happen outside of a deployment as well.

Ahh my biggest pet peeve…the standard “everyone with PTSD has these triggering memories and acts out” stereotype. Rememer when I said we use a giant book to see which criteria you meet to say you meet diagnostic standards? Flashbacks and memories are two of MANY symptoms. Also on that list are avoiding things and people (even if they aren’t tied to the event), memory difficulties, negative beliefs about yourself, others or the world, anger, feeling detached from others, sleep difficulties….see the point. There’s a lot. You can 100% have a PTSD diagnosis and never have one flashback or nightmare about the event.

1. I’m a mental health nerd that wants to be sure that everyone has their mental health needs met. 2. I have a lot of veterans in my life who have gone through the same process of having to prove to the VA that they deserve the benefits they have earned. If I can put some stuff on a website or spend 2-3 hours with someone to help them get the things they need I want to do that.