Abstract
A study of the effects of the Christmas 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka reveals that trauma looks different in different cultures. In particular, it does not look like PTSD in Sri Lanka. Trauma is defined by the culture it lives in. That is not bad, and in many ways, PTSD is a good way to describe trauma in an individualistic culture such as our own. This chapter looks at the origins of the diagnosis of PTSD in the Vietnam War, considering the way in which PTSD opens our eyes to the suffering of others, while reflecting the emptiness of aspects of our own culture.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1985). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. (DSM-III).
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV).
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing (DSM-5).
Blanchot, M. (1995). The writing of the disaster (A. Smock, Trans.). Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press.
Blank, A. (2014). Interview with Cathy Caruth. In C. Caruth (Ed.), Listening to trauma: Conversations with leaders in the theory and treatment of catastrophic experience (pp. 271–296). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Bracken, P. (2001). Post-modernity and post-traumatic stress disorder. Social Science & Medicine, 53, 733–743.
Caruth, C. (2014). Listening to trauma: Conversations with leaders in the theory and treatment of catastrophic experience. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Cloitre, M., Garvert, D., Brewin, C., Bryant, R., & Maercker, A. (2013). Evidence for proposed ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD: A latent profile analysis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 4, 1–12. Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3656217/.
Danieli, Y. (1988). Treating survivors and children of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. In F. Ochberg (Ed.), Post-traumatic therapy (pp. 278–294). New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.
Eickhoff, F. W. (2006). On Nachträglichkeit: The modernity of an old concept. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 87, 1453–1469.
Erikson, K. (1995). Notes on trauma and community. In C. Caruth (Ed.), Trauma: Explorations in memory (pp. 183–199). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Esterson, A. (1998). Jeffrey Masson and Freud’s seduction theory: A new fable based on old myths. History of the Human Sciences, 11, 1–21.
Fassin, D., & Rechtman, R. (2009). The empire of trauma: An inquiry into the condition of victimhood (R. Gomme, Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Felman, S., & Laub, D. (1992). Testimony: Crises of witnessing in literature, psychoanalysis, and history. New York, NY: Routledge.
Fernando, G. (2008). Assessing mental health and psychosocial status in communities exposed to traumatic events: Sri Lanka as an example. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78, 229–239.
Freud, S. (1898). Sexuality in the aetiology of the neuroses. The Standard Edition, 3, 261–286.
Freud, S. (1909). Analysis of a phobia in a five-year old boy. The Standard Edition, 10, 22–152.
Freud, S. (1933). New introductory lectures in psychoanalysis. The Standard Edition, 22, 3–184.
Friedman, M. (2013). Finalizing PTSD in DSM-5: Getting here from there and where to go next. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26, 548–556.
Greenberg, G. (2013). The book of woe: The DSM and the unmaking of psychiatry. New York: Penguin.
Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and recovery. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Joyce, P. A. (1995). Psychoanalytic theory, child sexual abuse and clinical social work. Clinical Social Work Journal, 23, 199–214.
Masson, J. M. (Ed.). (1985). The complete letters of Sigmund Freud to Wilhelm Fliess, 1887–1904. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Letter available at www.haverford.edu/psychology/ddavis/ffliess.html
McNally, R. J. (2005a). Remembering trauma. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
McNally, R. J. (2005b). Troubles in traumatology. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 13. Available at: https://ww1.cpa-apc.org/Publications/Archives/CJP/2005/november/cjp-nov-05-mcnally-IRedit-nov.pdf.
Novick, P. (2000). The Holocaust in American life. New York: Mariner.
Parry-Jones, B., & Parry-Jones, W. (1994). Post-traumatic stress disorder: Supportive evidence from an eighteenth century natural disaster. Psychological Medicine, 24, 15–27.
Phillips, A. (1996). On flirtation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rosen, G., Spitzer, R., & McHugh, P. (2008). Problems with the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis and its future in DSM-V. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 192, 3–4.
Salmon, T. W. (1917). The care and treatment of mental diseases and war neuroses (shell shock) in the British army. New York, NY: War Work Committee of the National Committee for Mental Hygiene. Full text available at https://archive.org/stream/caretreatmentofm00salmrich/caretreatmentofm00salmrich_djvu.txt
Scott, W. (1990). PTSD in DSM-III: A case in the politics of diagnosis and disease. Social Problems, 37, 294–310.
Shatan, C. (1972, May 6). Post-Vietnam syndrome. New York Times, op-ed.
Shay, J. (1994). Achilles in Vietnam: Combat trauma and the undoing of character. New York, NY: Scribner.
Summerfield, D. (2001). The invention of post-traumatic stress disorder and the social usefulness of a psychiatric category. British Medical Journal, 322, 95–98.
Trimble, M. (1985). Post-traumatic stress disorder: History of a concept. In R. Figley (Ed.), Trauma and its wake (pp. 5–14). New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.
van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York, NY: Viking.
Watters, E. (2010). Crazy like us: The globalization of the American psyche (p. 2010). New York, NY: Free Press.
Young, A. (1995). The harmony of illusions: Inventing post-traumatic stress disorder. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Appendix to Chapter 2: PTSD in DSM-5
Appendix to Chapter 2: PTSD in DSM-5
The DSM-5 requires that the stressor (criterion A) meet certain requirements, some of which are discussed in the chapter. Without a stressor, there is no PTSD.
The symptoms of PTSD must include the following:
-
B.
Intrusive and recurrent recollections of the event, including dreams and flashbacks.
-
C.
Avoidance and numbing, in which people, places, activities, and even consciousness are avoided, the latter through drink, drugs, and sleep. Feelings of detachment and estrangement from others, as though no one else could possibly understand. Restricted range of affect: all the emotions are turned down, including love, affection, and pleasure, as though every powerful emotion were a danger.
-
D.
Negative alteration in mood and thought, such as a sense of a foreshortened future. “What’s the point in planning anyway? I don’t expect to be around that long.” Guilt, shame, and feelings of alienation are also included.
-
E.
Increased arousal: Difficulty falling or staying asleep. Irritability or outbursts of anger. Hypervigilance. Exaggerated startle response.
There are additional symptoms and criteria, as well as two new subtypes: dissociative and childhood PTSD. The subtypes are narrowly defined, with the consequence that their applicability is limited. For example, childhood PTSD only applies to children six and under.
These symptoms must last for at least a month for the diagnosis of PTSD to be met.
Copyright information
© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Alford, C.F. (2016). PTSD Is a Culturally Bound Concept. In: Trauma, Culture, and PTSD. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57600-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57600-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57599-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57600-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)