Can an extremely unsettling memory of some singularly adverse life event – a wartime combat experience, perhaps, or personal involvement in a devastating accident – play out in negative ways for an individual over time?
Realistically, how could it not?
Human beings’ thought processes and development throughout life are centrally influenced by what has gone before. It is seldom the case that an adult – of whatever age – ever closes the doors of recollection completely on acute abuse suffered as a child. A police officer or emergency responder cannot compartmentalize a dramatic situation involving something like a mass shooting and completely seal it from future memory.
Those and other tense events from the past – e.g., a weapons threat, an assault suffered, a fatal fire, a terrorist attack or other extremely dramatic occurrence – seldom dissolve in the mind over time. Indeed, they often play out in various ways again and again and prove to be materially debilitating for those whose memories they target.
Once largely unknown, post-traumatic stress disorder is now a universally recognized and widely known condition.
And as noted above, it can be disabling. An in-depth Mayo Clinic overview of PTSD’s often long-term disabling effects notes that symptoms can emerge at virtually any time, and “may not appear until years after the event.” PTSD can “cause significant problems in social or work situations and … interfere with the ability to go about normal daily tasks.”
PTSD disability claims are sometimes challenged by insurers for alleged subjectivity or lack of a clear diagnosis. An individual suffering from the condition and seeking to secure long-term coverage protections might reasonably want to timely contact a proven and aggressive disability law legal team for guidance and diligent representation.