An old tweet comes to mind.

Look, I'll always feel bad about Iris Chang, but until she wrote her book I had no idea.

Looking at the question from a libertarian perspective, wouldn't the answer be appropriate disability insurance? Any prospective war journalist should require disability insurance as part of her compensation package, or, if freelance, purchase it for herself.

This doesn't happen because people underestimate their risk until they suffer an unfortunate event. No one consults an actuary about the incidence of serious mental health problems in a propective career. No one thinks that she might suffer from crippling depression or anxiety until it happens, and she is then unemployable.

Then there's the issue of economics. Workers in high-demand professions (like emergency room physicians) have the leverage to demand appropriate disability insurance from their employer. Journalists scramble to find any employment at all, so they're not likely to require disability benefits before they put their psyches in harm's way.

The non-libertarian answer would be a union, guild or even (boo, hiss) The State to require disability insurance for certain high risk professions. Want to report on the latest terrorist attack? Show us the certificate of coverage, please.

This is nonsense.
Every day, EMTs and doctors encounter far more horrific conditions, and their involvement in tragedy is intensely personal.
I suggest the journalist knows that merely writing about a tragedy doesn’t do anything at all to keep it from happening or to heal others. If it did, the satisfaction of a job well done would counter the obvious feelings of inadequacy.

> the satisfaction of a job
> well done would counter
> the obvious feelings of
> inadequacy.

This kind of thing has been a topic here before.

If we get sick -- which sometimes means we are mentally sick -- and it's job related, should that be covered? What do you think?

For veterans, it already is.

Should therapy be covered under our insurance policies? Absolutely.

Although, I feel too many abuse this stuff as it is. We already have people claiming they have PTSD because someone sent them naughty tweets on Twitter.

For veterans, it already is. ~ Patrick at May 4, 2019 8:48 AM

Yes, but we send veterans out to kill people for us. We should, in all fairness, cover any mental distress or illness this causes.

The fact that the US military today recognizes PTSD is the result of a long struggle. For years, "shell shock" and "combat fatigue" were considered malingering by the US military.

Firstly - the example highlighted involved a pre-existing condition, and only resulted in termination after refusing to return to work for 2 years. No employer should be expected to accommodate that.

Secondly - journalism is not a risky or traumatic profession. That's a fiction promoted by journalists to aggrandize themselves. In fact almost all of the 'journalists' they promote as being killed or otherwise harmed in a given period are actually private citizens who only become 'journalists' as props for their profession.

Thirdly - PTSD has a specific symptomology and diagnostic criteria. No one is going to develop PTSD from covering a news story. Again, more self aggrandizement.

The truth is, journalists promote the image of themselves as risk taking truth tellers to conceal the fact actually journalism is actually one of the least ethical and trusted professions. We'll all be better off if we confront that fact and stop romanticizing what they do.

"The truth is, journalists promote the image of themselves as risk taking truth tellers to conceal the fact actually journalism is actually one of the least ethical and trusted professions. We'll all be better off if we confront that fact and stop romanticizing what they do."

Better yet, let us wonder how this happened, and who made it happen?

> Absolutely.

Um… "Absolutely" is a fast, certain, and indiscriminate response. Are you certain?

Are we promising soldiers that every thing will be okay no matter what happens?

Because it's war. Isn't this the one time where we say 'Things are turning to shit, but we need you to go in there anyway'?

There's a lot of stuff happening in the military that isn't about the horror of war, and I'm not sure we want to insure everyone for it any more than any other employer does.

Secondly - journalism is not a risky or traumatic profession. That's a fiction promoted by journalists to aggrandize themselves. In fact almost all of the 'journalists' they promote as being killed or otherwise harmed in a given period are actually private citizens who only become 'journalists' as props for their profession.

Daniel Pearl comes to mind.

Anderson Cooper was assaulted several times while doing coverage in Cairo in 2011.

Cosh—

The PTSD crisis isn’t a crisis, and inventing one doesn’t help

Soldiers are […] healthier if anything than the average chap. This is not really surprising if you do not read the newspaper, and you merely hold to the old-fashioned idea that the military is pretty good at taking man-children and giving them purpose, abilities, structure, and a social network...

Veterans, as a group, are outstanding for success in the military afterlife, and most have few regrets about serving their country. Portraying them as a stream of broken toys pouring back from foreign wars on a blood-stained conveyor does not really seem to be helping the less fortunate among them. I defy any colleague, at any title, to deny that this is the picture we have painted.

PTSD isn't just being scared of stuff. Shabby use of language is screwing things up for us.

America, and Western Civ, may have done a lot of damage to itself by pumping One and the CBS Evening News into people's home's through the same device. People seem to think their love of dramatic entertainment and their rational interest in the well-being of others are, and deserve to be, blended in their understanding of the world.

Okay, that was weird. Let's try again!

America, and Western Civ, may have done a lot of damage by pumping Gilligan's Island and the CBS Evening News into people's home's through the same device. People now seem to think their love of dramatic entertainment and their rational interest in the well-being of others are, and deserve to be, blended in their understanding of the world.

"But, the reality is, we don't always know what our tolerance is."

Like Harry Callahan said - a man's got to know his limitations.

Far too many people don't do a sober assessment of their tolerance for such things. only considering the glamorous aspects of an occupation.

Some employers, like the Marine Corps, strive to help their prospective hires probe their limitations.