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Comment by andrewchambers | Hacker News Reader

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andrewchambers

> They're just saying "I hurt," not "I am just as damaged as a veteran at the receiving end of an artillery barrage."

No, that is literally what they are saying.

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Literally, as in those exact words? I'm going to have to ask for a source on that.

People have literally used "PTSD" to refer to both the aftereffects of bullying and wartime combat.

People have used "sorrow" to refer to both denting a car and losing a family to genocide, but that doesn't mean there's any implied equivalence.

Just to clarify, and god I hope this tedious subthread is detached and hurled with great force towards the bottom of the thread, but PTSD and sorrow are very different things. I have friendly and familial connections to PTSD and am familiar with what a PTSD episode can be. It is nothing at all like sadness or hurt feelings. It can be closer to seizure behavior than anything like that.

And, of course, nobody I've known with PTSD has been in combat.

Thanks for taking the time to slap back the toxic, ignorant comments that sparked this subthread. Would that for every one of you, we had ten people more willing to use the flag button on comments.

I don't mean to draw any comparison between PTSD and sorrow. It's merely an example of how the same word can be used to describe very different things without implying any sort of equivalence.

That makes sense. I didn't think you were being dismissive. Hopefully I haven't just managed to be dismissive of you!

I don't think you did. You have a legitimate point and I see how you might have taken it differently than I meant it, so I just wanted to clarify.

I myself find "sorrow" doesn't do the latter justice, but YMMV. In general I think specific meanings are better especially for complicated concepts like PTSD. I think separate terms would be better for the effects of long term psychological abuse experienced as a child, and the psycho/physical life-threatening experiences of combat soldiers. To use the same term for both just muddies the waters.

I think the trouble is that psychology has such a poor understanding of fundamental causes, and diseases tend to be classified by symptoms instead. PTSD is probably a collection of loosely related or maybe even unrelated problems, but they look similar from the outside. Imagine if we used "chest pain" for broken ribs, collapsed lungs, and heart attacks, having no understanding of the ribs, lungs, or heart. More specificity would make a lot of sense to me, but it seems like it's held back by this lack of fundamental understanding.

You got me, i can't find that that literal quote (though im pretty sure it exists). I meant to say that is what is intentionally implied.

I'm going to have to ask for a source on that as well.

That is literally a false statement.

"PTSD" has a definition that includes other than physical trauma:

"PTSD is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.

"It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to help defend against danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a typical reaction meant to protect a person from harm. Nearly everyone will experience a range of reactions after trauma, yet most people recover from initial symptoms naturally. Those who continue to experience problems may be diagnosed with PTSD. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they are not in danger."

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress...