[Civil and criminal suits concerning PTSD in Japan]

In civil and criminal trials in Japan, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) issues have recently become a common topic of debate. In both types of (civil and criminal cases) judgments have been either affective or negative to PTSD. Contributing factors to the diagnosis of the accused that is identified to suffer from PTSD vary between cases. The difference in the establishment of the diagnosis for PTSD between psychiatrists reflects an aspect of the current situation in Japan where they have not used perfectly obvious and clearly defined diagnostic criterion, including ICD-10 and DSM-IV. To resolve this problem, a simple, clear and objective criterion of PTSD must be established. Instead of criterion that may take a long time to be established, a checklist can be used to relate PTSD with legal matters, as well as to determine liability in damages of the accused in civil cases and punishment in criminal cases.