PTSD and Combat PTSD. Is There A Difference?

Post traumatic stress disorder affects everyone differently. The disorder has common symptoms that include intrusive thoughts, nightmares, dissociation, hyper vigilance, hyper arousal, flashbacks, and hallucinations. This is a stress disorder, so those who experience PTSD also experience an abundance of anxiety, depression, and stress. PTSD is PTSD whether it is acquired though child abuse, experiencing a disaster, or through combat.

That being said, combat vets go through psychological training in order to effectively deal with being in a war zone. They are trained to be hyper aroused and to be hyper vigilant. In a combat zone, if they expect to stay alive, these mental states have to be in place 24 hours a day. Survival depends upon a soldier using hyper vigilance in order to decipher danger and respond instantaneously.

When you combine a hyper aroused state of mind with a traumatic experience, such as a skirmish in which people die or are disfigured, this experience becomes ingrained in the psyche, causing PTSD. When a soldier is on high alert, experiences that surge of adrenaline, and is in a situation in which their lives are on the line, that is a clear set up to acquire PTSD.

So, is there a difference between what some consider to be “ Regular” PTSD and “Combat” PTSD? The answer is yes. And no. Combat PTSD differs in that a vet is trained to have the response that those who have acquired PTSD through other means obtain through their experience. An assault victim becomes hyper vigilant due to the assault. A child abuse victim gradually adapts a state of hyper arousal due to prolonged encounter. A soldier hits the battlefield with that pre programmed hyper vigilant state of mind.

Ultimately, PTSD has common symptoms and typical human reactions regardless of how it was acquired. PTSD is PTSD and there is no cure for this disorder. The degree to which any human reacts is specific to their experience. Some may have a higher degree of hyper arousal and some may have a higher degree of another symptom such as dissociation.

I have PTSD and have not been in a combat zone. Not many civilians who have PTSD have experienced terror on the prolonged basis that I have. Therefore, my startle response was on the same level as a soldier’s response at one time. The intensity and feelings are the same. The way in which PTSD was acquired was different. Ultimately, it’s all the same.