Can Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ("PTSD") develop in non-combat situations? Can fighting against actions of fraud, waste and abuse?

Update: Based upon evidence released by the Army in 2014, the PTSD of my Comrade was caused by an EMHE ordered and conducted against my buddy in a premeditated reprisal for submitting an IG complaint against his CoC for irregular activities; a Complaint that was made eight months prior to the EMHE and in which EMHE he was interned without affording him his Due Process rights. Evidence proves that my buddy's IG complaint was compromised in a strange way that was deliberately done to share the contents of his case file to the prime implicated in that case. However, the Army is dead set on trying to bury this case using excuses, like the CO was ignorant of the law and it was an administrative error Chris Smith.

So your buddy ratted out his company. Retaliation accrued and you dont think he has ptsd? Is he diagnosed? The question of what kind of hell did he go through comes to my mind.

Agreed; the contention was that PTSD is misused to earn a disability. Perhaps true; however, patient was carefully and thoroughly evaluated by the VA. The results were boarded and then, patient was granted disability Major. There was no means of hoodwinking the process.

CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana the description of his “torture” is horrible. I think there’s more of this story that needs to be told. What you’ve described is treatment(?) for suicidal threats. It is beyond doubt one of the stupidest ways for treatment known to mankind. Your friend requires treatment that includes in residence at a VA treatment facility; if he can trust them enough to accept their treatment. I see a peer support specialist every week. I see a counselor every two to three weeks. Do they help? Yes, they do. Before I was able to get their support, I was angry at the world. I kept most of it internally. Letting out the inner Marine wouldn’t solve the problem, just make things worse. Get help in every way possible. Accept treatment options every time they offer them. Some options are quite helpful, some are just plain silly and there’s one or two that will not work. Regardless, give them a try. Without trying, the outcome is failure. Failure leads to more negativity, which creates a viscous circle that ends up very badly. As to their rating, I can’t speak for anyone else. I’ll give you what I can based on my experience. I’ve created a list that I try to follow:
1. Get an advocate. Go to one of the service officers who represent the VFW, American Legion, DAV and there’s others. Their job is to help vets. It’s their only job and it is completely free. You do not have to be a member of these organizations to get their help.
2. Have the advocate review all records; medical, dental, anything pertinent to the individual.
3. Have the advocate deliver your request for VA ratings to the VA Benefits office.
4. Go to every appointment that you may/will be scheduled for. Comp and Pen, C&P, compensation and pension are all the same. Do not miss these appointments.
5. Once you and your advocate have completed everything, paperwork wise, it’s time to wait. Do not stop going to treatment appointments. This is very important. Continuing your treatment tells the VA that you need help.
6. Do not give up. If you disagree with any part of the process, get a one-on-one meeting with your advocate. Again, do not give up.
That’s about it. There’s more that can be done, but goes outside my experience. I just can’t stress enough that you have to keep at it, do not give up. Be polite to everyone. Please and thank you are priceless.
Hope this helps.

SMSgt Jeff Kyle, I hear you completely and totally understand you.

VA has accepted that the ailment is acute PTSD, yet they only rated it at 50%. The doctors have concluded that improvement can only happen when the concerned Uniformed Service becomes transparent with regards to the affected Veteran's case and correct the errors. The Army is not ready to cooperate saying this chapter is closed.

CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana as i see it, there is one opportunity that can be taken but great care must be taken. Initiate a congressional investigation. Prepare a letter to each Senator and the Representative that covers the area lived in. Put forth all the facts as you know them. Make copies of pertinent records that directly cover the issue at hand. Last but not least, give them a filled out Limited Power of Attorney that allows them to look into the issues. All of this may be a bit intimidating but it is necessary in order to give the claims a thorough go-thru.

SMSgt Jeff Kyle, this is very much appreciated. I will draft a letter to Congressional leaders.

I love you Skip; you helped me prove my point. Thanks!

The daily news itself is no less exciting than the nightly news I would say, Sir.

While making fun of the PTSD from which many veterans suffer, let's not forget our compassion as leaders. A few may have flaunted the system, but then corruption by these few must not affect the forthright. Getting rid of the PTSD program is no solution to preventing against corruption. A few must not ruin it for the whole. Thanks!

Then let's get it properly defined and diagnosed. I know people that claimed it to get disability and they were never in a combat situation. If it's a valid condition with a specific cause, then let's stick to those qualifiers. I see it no differently than the handicapped parking spaces that were intended for those that had to have additional room on the side of a van to get a wheelchair out and now everyone with a doctors note for a sprained ankle gets to park in them.

ALL do respect LtCol - direct combat experience is not the only trigger that can cause PTSD - in or out of the military. Just to be clear, Sir.

Absolutely right; however, likewise, subordinates don't appreciate superiors tainting them, falsifying their records and sending them for MHEs and EMHEs. Seniors must remember that their understudies are humans and reflections of themselves. Would superiors tolerate juniors acting in such a manner and if not then, why do it? The Code is don't lie, cheat or steal; nor allow others to do so. Why not follow it as the example? A person who goes thru such traumatic experiences feel "raped".

Do you have flashbacks of that traumatic experience at home, at work and, with others; is your stress bearable or unbearable; do you lash out, roll into defensive mode or, deny the act as though it never existed?

Not really but I have nightmares at times

My comrade is hurt from the inside, because his service, at its tail-end, was marred by false allegations that have no evidence. His trauma came in peacetime, in garrison, at the hands of his leadership; a leadership that my Comrade had submitted a Complaint about, but which leadership the Service IG never actually investigated and, the truth my Comrade relives daily, even after almost 15 years.

My mom's cousin's son killed himself CONUS and after a deployment. Also after his grandfather (my great uncle) had suddenly died a few months earlier. I think he was the one person my second cousin (? I don't remember how cousins are labeled with parents cousins kid) could talk to and the he felt like he had no one. I had never met him. I hadn't seen my great aunt and uncle for like 25 years when he died. I went to see her. I should have met that kid when I was out there. Had I known he was having issues I would have helped him find some resources where he lived.

That's been my point - all along. Every person is very different from the next, therefore it's impossible to 'say' what does or doesn't cause PTSD in each possible individual, in their lifetime - combat or not.

This is exactly what I was trying to understand and your feedback has helped me immensely David; thanks.

No problem. I heard PTSD best described as an individual cup that is constantly filling up. Some people have different sized cups, and different experiences fill them up at different rates. Some things can drain the cup as well such as a solid support system. So some people can go through hell and come out ok because they either had great support or because they have a bigger cup. If the person you knew took everything as his own burden and didn't have people he could vent to or turn to for support its very likely it could have caused his cup to overflow.

SPC David - tell that to 'Pvt Pyle' - . I know that he was an actor "playing a part" but in his situation as a new recruit in the movie "Full Metal Jacket", those events DO exist and have for many decades. He was not in a combat situation, but his "trauma" came from his senior drill instructor in the form of belittlement and punishment both from him and his 'fellow recruits'.