Purple Hearts Urged For PTSD Sufferers

A military psychologist suggests making troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder eligible for the Purple Heart to help remove the stigma of a disorder affecting about 20 percent of combat veterans.

Such a move would be a major change in the Purple Heart awards policy, which does not classify PTSD as a combat wound.

My own opinion is that if you don't have a physical wound, you don't need the Purple Heart. It goes to the very concept of manhood, I think. Yes, a lot of cheap Purple Hearts have been issued (John Kerry, anyone?), but cheapening the award by allowing PTSD sufferers (Shell Shock, Combat Fatique) to wear it is a mistake.

Of course, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong, as Dennis Miller says.

Update: of course, PTSD was the subject of Pat Barker's fine novel of WWI doctors and shell-shock patients: Regeneration, and discusses the psychology of the disorder in soldiers much better than any small article could.