Tag Archives: stress-disorder

Alex Simmons produced Vanguard's “War Crimes,” about veterans who have been charged with violent crimes. In the last two years the Army has drastically cut the number of “personality disorder” designations, increasingly diagnosing soldiers instead with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. This change comes after The Nation reported that thousands of soldiers at the height of the Iraq War may have been misdiagnosed, and were thus unable to seek treatment for what they really have — PTSD. From one recent news account: Unlike PTSD, which the Army regards as a treatable mental disability caused by the acute stresses of war, the military designation of a personality disorder can have devastating consequences for soldiers. Defined as a “deeply ingrained maladaptive pattern of behavior,” a personality disorder is considered a “pre-existing condition” that relieves the military of its duty to pay for the person's health care or combat-related disability pay. In “War Crimes” we saw that PTSD can be treated but — when it goes unchecked — it can lead to disastrous scenarios. Read more from The Nation about this issue. Watch an extra from “War Crimes” about a Los Angeles organization that treats vets with PTSD: “War Crimes” airs Wednesday, August 18 at 10/9c on Current TV. Watch a trailer for the episode after the jump. added by: alexsimmons