The Battle Against Mental Health Stigma: Examining How Veterans with PTSD Communicatively Manage Stigma

Veterans experiencing combat-related PTSD often refrain from seeking mental health services due to the stigma attached, which can lead to extreme and life-threatening consequences including depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Attaining a better understanding of coping mechanisms is important because it has the ability to help veterans better manage their stigma in the future and potentially help them survive PTSD and the stigma associated with it. Thus, the current study uses stigma management communication theory to uncover the ways in which veterans with PTSD communicatively manage their stigmatized identity. In-depth one-on-one interviews with United States veterans show that veterans with PTSD manage stigma using all six major strategies of stigma management communication. Some veterans managed stigma by blending contradictory strategies together. In addition, new stigma management communication strategies appeared. Not only do these results offer advancement for communication theory, but they could aid in the development of military training, military policy, mental health assessments, interventions, and destigmatizing campaigns.