Story

Charlotte Brock

When Charlotte Brock decided it was time to ask for help for her combat stress injuries she was ostracized by members of her unit and eventually removed from her job by her superiors. Unfortunately, the stigma associated with seeking treatment was so persuasive that she says, "If I were to do it again, I would suck it up and deal with it because seeking help only made things much harder."

“No self-respecting Marine wants to be labeled with having a disorder,” says Charlotte. “Combat stress is not a disorder but a normal reaction to certain situations.” As part of relieving this stigma of PTSD, Charlotte believes that even the terminology must be changed, “Maybe one way to affect this stigma is to change the term most commonly used - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is already hard enough to deal with having ‘PTSD’ - it makes you feel like a weird, weak crazy person - and the term only exacerbates the symptoms themselves.”