88

PTSD is characterized by a constellation of symptoms that have become well known since the onset of modern warfare. One of its specific traits, recognized in international classifications, is a latency period without which we have almost no right to mention such a diagnosis. We defend the position that this latency period lays the grounds for the subjective constructions of the symptom. It thereby offers the very means of diffusing symptomatic repetition inherent to the syndrome. Hence the present day traumatic event may be differentiated from the original cause, as it is required that two traumatic events of a different nature be distinguished. Only analysis can reveal the symptoms cause, as debriefing appears iatrogenic.