Critical Sociology · 1998 · 42 citations · 26 references
Social SciencesPsychiatryPsychologyArmed ConflictTrauma-related DisordersWar StudiesMental HealthMental IllnessPost-traumatic Stress DisorderTrauma DisordersTrauma NarrativesWar RhetoricMedical DiscoursePostwar TraumaProfessional DiscourseSocial Construction Of MeaningSocial Reality ConstructionSurvivor GuiltVeterans' ExperiencesWar Trauma Narratives
This paper presents a social constructionist account of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Its account of PTSD's multi-faceted origins begins with the efforts of the Nixon Administration to discredit of the voice of anti-war veterans following the fall, 1969, Moratorium Days against the war. Subsequently, mental health professionals frame veteran political behavior within a medical discourse, transporting the concepts alienation, survivor guilt, and flashbacks into the PTSD literature from other contexts. The New York Times plays a critical role in legitimating PTSD.
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