What is PTSD? PTSD is a syndrome experienced by many veterans and is a priority of a plethora of psychological researchers. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists eight criteria for this widespread mental illness, including a stressor, symptoms of interference, avoidance, changes in defiance and reactivity, and a duration of symptoms for more than a month. PTSD is often characterized by sleep disturbances, with traumatic events frequently appearing in veterans' nightmares. PTSD has proven to be unpredictable, and many ambiguous aspects of the disorder remain. It is believed that perhaps PTSD does not even require the experience of a traumatic event. However, many psychologists estimate that the number of PTSD diagnoses has become too broad and that the PTSD diagnosis has become too generalized. -diagnosis of PTSD According to one veteran, anxiety and depression are often misdiagnosed as PTSD. Since the Vietnam War, the incidence and diagnosis of PTSD has skyrocketed. After a major reduction in the rate of PTSD in veterans in which poorly documented PTSD cases were selected from the collection, Bruce P. Dohr-enwend of Columbia found a 13% reduction in the rate of post-traumatic stress disorder throughout life; In continuation of Dohr-enwend's work, McNally concluded that the majority of PTSD patients were able to function in everyday life, reducing the rate of PTSD over the course of a person's life. another 7% (Dobbs 2). Additionally, many veterans are known to over- or under-report PTSD symptoms, making accurate diagnosis even more challenging. Because diagnosing PTSD is difficult, many researchers are working on new methods of diagnosis. diagnose PTSD more ac...... middle of paper ......The Danish soldiers in the study showed no signs of PTSD, another large group of soldiers tested did showed only short-term PTSD symptoms. A plethora of soldiers who experienced severe PTSD symptoms only experienced these symptoms after returning home, not after a specific traumatic event occurred in the field. In this respect, PTSD proves ambiguous. Although the DSM includes a criterion requiring the experience of a traumatic event, PTSD can come in many forms and has yet to be fully understood. Childhood ConnectionRosen's study, which focused on the root cause of post-traumatic stress disorder, showed that stress (severe anxiety or nightmares) displayed by soldiers before deployment decreased or disappeared in 13% of soldiers (Herbert 2). Additionally, those who developed severe PTSD had suffered from emotional problems before the mission, particularly childhood abuse or exposure to violence..