Common misconceptions

Earlier today I had a conversation about hiring veterans and it really made me think.  The individual I was speaking with doesn't have any military background and I don't think there was anything thought about making the comment that individuals worry about hiring veterans because of the possibility of PTSD. 

As the day went on, this bothered me more and more.  Not only was there a complete lack of understanding of what PTSD truly was, but there was also a misconception that all service members had PTSD and we are all just ticking time bombs waiting for the right thing to set us off.  There is also a lack of understanding on the fact that PTSD, although lately has been primarily associated with combat, is a direct result of anything traumatic.  This could include being sexually assaulted, being in a car accident, surviving a tornado or one of a thousand other possibilities.  But since many times those individuals don't necessarily fall in a publicized category like veterans do, the 'ticking time bomb' isn't a concern or even a label they receive.

It's been about 15 months since I received my PTSD 'diagnosis'.  Yes, I'm a veteran and yes, it is directly related to my deployments and some of the missions, and yes, I have days that are better than others and nights that are rough... but that doesn't change the fact that I'm a person who can still function as a person from day to day.  I was pretty private about my diagnosis at first, because I see the judgements that some people make and even further into that is the opinion that since I'm a female veteran that I wasn't in a capacity to have traumatic experiences.  But the fact remains that even though I wasn't in a combat job, that didn't prevent me from spending the good majority of my first deployment manning a machine gun or being MEDEVAC to service members and contractors (on an unarmed aircraft at that). 

I guess my point is that too many people allow the media to form their opinions for them.  Just because a service member does something horrible, does not automatically mean they have PTSD.... and on the opposite side of that, just because someone has PTSD does not mean they have a short fuse and are likely to lose it at any point.  Some people get irritated when they are asked questions like 'what it PTSD like?', etc...  personally, I would much rather individuals go to the source and try to become educated and understand than to continue on with the misconceptions that the media often provides.