Do labels help or hurt those suffering from PTSD?

Great question COL Mikel J. Burroughs. I don't have any experience with PTSD personally, but I agree with any label that it is how an individual personally identifies themself. For the longest time after a divorce, I sunk into the Army lifestyle and put everything I had into it. I wore my ID tags every waking hour whether on duty or off, I used a military rank on my personal voicemail, I identified as a Soldier first and foremost! Once I began regularly attending a church where I felt I became part of that community, I decided to be baptised and now I identify as a Christian first.

Labels end up hurting the ones they are supposed to be helping.

After 3 deployments, went in for help in active duty, they say they will not hold it against you, 1 month later I'm MEB , one year later out the army. So do it hurt??? Yes, it's a death blow to you.

A Label cannot dictate who you are. The experiences you go through can and will dictate who you are and who you will become, as we are all a product of our environments. NOW you can either allow it to be positive or negative. It was 37 years before I knew I had PTSD, I knew there was something wrong, but no one could put a finger on it or tell me why it was happening. Funny, Ihad been trained in how to recognize PTSD in my Firefighters, but I cold not see it in myself. My problems manifested themselves as hyper emotional sensitivity. I would start laughing at the simplest thing or crying at anything that reminded me of long ago memories. Once I finally found out, I told everyone. If it happens, bear with me, it will pass. It does not take away from my ability to do any of my jobs, and it actually may help me be better at them. Am I normal? Probably not but I have unlimited strength for I always have the strength of my LORD whenever I may need it. HE has not let me down yet... Labels don't bother me.

Yes labels stigmatize,humiliate,and create a environment of fear of exposure.

If someone labeled me before I never knew it. Then again, I'm not the kind to worry about what others think of me. I live by my own standards not others standards. In military life we sometimes use labels as endearments. You know the kind. "Beast", "Smiley", "Big Dawg" y'all get it. But I will say this. Some times it's hard not to label others because of how they act, or what they do. I think labels belong on objects or things not on people. Labeling someone can hurt the way others look at the person with the label. It's just bad social manners to label people. PTSD is a medical condition not a label. If you know someone with PTSD help them, be kind and treat them with respect. Don't be an asshole and use it as a label to describe them. Really. Don't use labels y'all without others permission.

When I first retired from the Army 1 1/2 year ago I allowed medical labels and terms somewhat define and even dictate who I was and how I was supposed to behave or feel. Well I realized after several months that responsibility titles (father, husband, etc) are way bigger than labels and statuses (retired, disabled, depression, etc...). So while labels may explain certain behaviors and symptoms they should never define or dictate who you are and what you do.

It took the military a long while not to look at the labels and realize one can still carry on without the stigma of the label.

COL Mikel J. Burroughs:
I do not let any labels define me, Mikel. Nor do I let any label hold me back from: "Being all that I can be."
My psychiatrist, Mikel, doesn't like labels-I am pretty sure-and he decidedly does not like diagnoses.
I advise mentally ill people, Mikel, Not to let their mental illness define them; and I also advise the mentally ill to: "Go straight through their mental illness".
Thank you ever so kindly, Mikel, for bringing up this subject.
-Most Sincerely, Margaret

1. Yes, it's probably better that what I would have unlabeled
2. According to my aptitude tests I could be a Policeman or a Soldier, My label disqualifies from both
3. At one point it was to my advantage so I accepted it
4. sometimes