If you’ve been to war or been in the service, it’s possible you’ve suffered from trauma, like a head injury, during your time in the force. While your injury may have healed, not all wounds are physical. Some people deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, but the stigma of PTSD is haunting the veterans who are looking for jobs. Those who are trying to find work believe that the risk of PTSD makes employers favor other candidates over them, even when their injuries or mental condition won’t actually affect their jobs.
According to the story, even when service members come back with trauma, they still need to work and want to get back into a normal way of life. To help, it’s been suggested that employers should become better educated in PTSD, so they can make good hiring decisions without the stigma of the disorder holding them back.
Post-traumatic stress disorder affects around one out of five veterans who went to Iraq, and it is said to affect around 11 percent of those who went to Afghanistan, according to the National Institutes for Health. While many of these soldiers may struggle with stress, night terrors or other mental health issues, labeling all soldiers is not the way forward.
The truth is, whether or not a service member has a mental health concern like PTSD, employers should not be discriminatory. It’s such a problem that around 88.7 percent of veterans and current service members have claimed that the stigma of PTSD will affect their chances of getting a job in the civilian workforce.
Source: Journal News, “Job-hunting veterans fight PTSD stigma,” Barrie Barber, Nov. 11, 2015