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Since the late 1990s, there have been a number of news stories in Can- ada with headlines like "Casualties of Peace" and "From National Hero to Park Bench Drunk,'" reporting on the prevalence of mental illness, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Canadian Armed Forces personnel. In January of 1997 Canada's Department of National Defence carried out an epidemiological survey of Canadians who had served in the Gulf War to establish the overall health status of Gulf War personnel as well as the incidence of any symptoms of illness among them. The results indicated that among other health problems, Canadian soldiers who had served in the Gulf War were suffering from PTSD (Veterans Affairs Canada, 2002). Subsequently, there has been an increasing amount of discussion within the military and in the media about the incidence of PTSD among Canadian soldiers. In this analysis, I examine the construction of PTSD and how the disorder is being drawn upon by members of the Canadian Armed Forces. I begin by first examining what exactly it is that PTSD refers to through tracing the development of the disorder. Particular attention is directed towards the differing accounts of the origins of PTSD offered by Judith Herman ( 1 992) and Allan Young ( 1 995). I then examine a number of news sto- ries of Canadian soldiers suffering from PTSD that have appeared in Canadian news. I argue, drawing on Allan Young (1995), that rather than representing a timeless and universal disorder, PTSD is a recent social construction that emerged following a political struggle by psy- chiatric workers and activists advocating for recognition and benefits on large numbers of Vietnam War veterans who were suffering from undiagnosed psychological effects of war-related trauma. More- over, being a social construct, PTSD serves to reinforce and advance particular beliefs and ideologies within society. For instance, the dis- course of victimhood and 'the troubled troop' facilitated by PTSD works to reinforce the image of the 'good', 'caring' peacekeeper and Canada as a similarly 'good' and 'caring' nation. Therefore, while the disorder may be empirically experienced by many, it nevertheless represents a social construct that makes certain discourses possible, such as the discourse of victimhood, while foreclosing the possibility of others, like that of Cana- dian soldiers as perpetrators.
Amanda McCarthy - Personal Name
1st Edtion
NONE
Reasearch
Management
English
2004
London
1-188
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