Does this kind of violence really occur in PTSD victims? When Sgt. Robert Bales was arrested for killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan last year, many were quick to connect his violent rampage to his PTSD like symptoms. However, there is no evidence that suggests PTSD can be a cause of violent crimes. Anger, hostility, and aggression are less common symptoms than depression, hypervigilance, and disturbing memories or nightmares. If anything, some PTSD victims show aggression towards themselves or their spouses and families.
Monday, March 17, 2014
PTSD
Learning about PTSD reminded me of an episode of Criminal Minds, "Distress", that I watched awhile back. In the episode, the Behavioral Analysis Unit travels to an area of Houston which is undergoing construction to search for a man that has been snapping the necks of innocent people - a construction worker, a security guard, and a homeless man. They profile this man to be a war veteran with PTSD. This man is basically reliving the war zone he had been in. His distorted perception of reality was causing him to kill people who were, in reality, no danger to him. The BAU has to go about the situation very carefully because the veteran has special training and can be very dangerous. SPOILER: in the end, the man is shot by a SWAT team member. Everyone is sad. I cried.
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I do believe that we might have an extreme image of PTSD. I watched an episode of Lie to Me that was about a man who every time something moved in his house he thought someone was out to get his family. Clearly all these TV shows exaggerate and things aren't actually that bad. It could be rare cases are, but most people with PTSD are not. It might just be that they are overly nervous. Or have flashbacks sometimes or Nightmares. You might not even notice if someone has PTSD. But it still real and something that we need to make sure people get treated.
ReplyDeleteI feel like every single show has atleast one episode of PTSD. But I definitely agree it's always portrayed as something more extreme than it really is. We learned about PTSD as something that involves flashbacks, impedes functioning, and mental paralysis -- I really doubt that if these are the symptoms it could somehow lead to a violent crime!
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