Within the last few weeks, I was reminded twice why I really wished The Huffington Post had promoted my article.
The piece was about my growing concern that PTSD was becoming a buzzword. Assuming, or perhaps hoping, the intention was to be sarcastic or snarky, on social media some were suggesting they had experienced PTSD after the 2016 presidential election and during the last few minutes of the Super Bowl (if you recall that game between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons was a nail biter). One person put out a piece through a major publication about how her corporate job gave her PTSD, even going so far as to include “PTSD” in the title but failing to use a single word to describe anything related to PTSD. For people like me who’ve moved through their symptoms and are now living happy lives, the evolution of the disorder into a buzzword still stung a little. I can only imagine what it feels like for someone who is currently in the darkest of places.
I’m no Elizabeth Gilbert or Brené Brown, so I didn’t expect my point to reach the masses even if The Huffington Post had featured my article, but I’m bummed to see that PTSD’s buzzwordiness is growing.
Earlier this month the media released pictures of President Donald Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer sitting together in the oval office allegedly working out a budget deal that apparently leaned a little left than right. House Republicans got wind of the meeting and probably felt clever when they told each other “PTSD is bad”, meaning a “Pelosi, Trump, Schumer Deal is bad”. They did get one thing right….PTSD is bad.
Then this morning I opened up my email and saw my daily Google alerts for post-traumatic stress disorder. I opted in to get these so that I’d have access to the latest breakthroughs and news about PTSD so I can share with my followers on social media. One headline from a blogger indicated that serving on the PTA at her child’s school gave her PTSD. I'm not a parent, but I can totally respect that raising children is difficult and that drama tends to exist between parents who have opposing views on what’s best for their kids, but I couldn’t even bring myself to click on the link and read that article. Unless the unthinkable happened at a PTA meeting, perhaps a shooting or a sexual assault or a tornado ripping off the roof, I’m not buying it.
For those of you who get what I'm saying, you can probably stop reading at this point. But for those of you who don’t understand what the big deal is, please keep reading. When someone overdramatizes their stress and labels it PTSD without having been diagnosed by a mental health professional or without truly knowing what the disorder is all about, you disappoint someone who’s really suffering. And I’m sorry to tell you this but you can’t use the excuse that people are too sensitive….because part of the problem is that one of the symptoms of PTSD is oversensitivity.
I’ve been in stressful jobs. I was stressed after the election. Being a New York Giants fan, meaning a fan that really would never root for the New England Patriots, the last half of the Super Bowl was stressful to watch. As much as stress sucks, can’t you appreciate that stress is nothing like having PTSD? Can we all agree that PTSD and every other mental disorder, or even disorders in general no matter their origin, should never be a buzzword?
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