Reply #19: The Guilt of a Soldier [View All]

may or may not be a symptom of a disorder. The point of treatment of guilt as a symptom of PTSD is to help the patient accurately access his or her contribution to what happened, and then deal with the part that is his.

You can have PTSD from driving drunk and causing a 30 car pile-up that kills five infants. Going to a psychologist for relief from the ensuing symptoms is not negating the fact that you are 1) guilty, and 2) experiencing normal emotions. It also doesn't mean that your psychologist supports drunk driving. Disorder in this case means a state that causes dysfunction in living some part of your life. It's not a term that implies judgment one way or another.

If you want to cast people into the fires of hell for their actions, see a priest, not the APA.