Words matter – I’ve always believed that. At the Beyond the Dura conference last April, Nikki Kenwood told us that one of the participants in the UK Intensive program insisted on using the term PTSI (Post Traumatic Stress Injury) as opposed to the American Psychological Association recognized term, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The term PTSI resonated deeply with me and I began to look further into it. I’ve included some links below if you would like to read more about some of the expert opinions on the matter.
I was watching the pilot for the new series 911: Lonestar with Rob Lowe and noticed that Hollywood has now joined in the debate. Towards the end of the first episode he explains the terms to a firefighter who is the lone survivor of a tragedy that killed the rest of the firefighters from his station. Lowe’s character believes the term PTSI should be used instead of PTSD. A new to me term also showed up in the third episode of another new series, FBI: Most Wanted with Julian McMahon. He refers to PTSS which is Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms.
The major debate as I understand it relates mostly to use of the term in the military as it has many ramifications. For example, the Pentagon does not consider soldiers with PTSD for the Purple Heart. On the other hand, the Canadian military coined the term OSI or “Operational Stress Injury” and soldiers with OSI are eligible for the Sacrifice Award, which is the Canadian equivalent of the US Purple Heart1. (Sorry, I couldn’t figure out how to make the 1 a footnote. See below for the link)
There are differing opinions on the debate as to whether the term should be changed. While I have always believed that words matter, I do agree that changing the label alone will do little to help those who suffer. This subject is much deeper than a short blog post, but I wanted to share that I make a point of using the term PTSI with clients who have been through a traumatic event and may be feeling stigma attached to the term PTSD. A client pointed me to the book Reframing PTSD as Traumatic Grief by Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD, CT which they found very helpful. Recognizing the event as an injury may help clients understand that the effects they are feeling are not their fault and they can be kinder with themselves when they or others feel that they should have “moved on by now.”
Do you have an opinion on this debate? What term do you use? Do you use a different term with clients and with others? I would love to hear if and how this affects your practice or life.
Footnotes & other links:
1 https://dartcenter.org/content/ptsd-vs-ptsi-our-experts-weigh-in-on-debate
https://www.nicabm.com/re-labeling-ptsd-as-ptsi/
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/ptsd/related/ptsd-vs-ptsi/
http://globalptsifoundation.org/ptsd-vs-ptsi
https://www.posttraumaticstressinjury.org/
Beyond the Dura 2019
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