^{Return to note 10} Drawing upon the experiences of health care practitioners for the traumatized, Herman (1997) proposed a diagnostic category of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (see Appendix C) as separate from “simple post-traumatic stress disorder” (p. 120), a distinction not found in the DSM-III or DSM-III-R, nor incorporated in either the DSM-IV or the DSM-IV-TR.

^{Return to note 11} Although my interest this paper topic stems from domestic abuse I experienced in my first marriage, I am choosing to discuss posttraumatic stress disorder through documented incidents unrelated to domestic abuse for two reasons, both related to the arguments I make in this paper. First of all, as the account of the car accident demonstrates, personal memory, by itself, is colored by the judgments made at the time it is laid down and when re-examined. The burden of “proof” lies with the narrator, and without corroborating evidence or a preponderance of personal narratives indicating similar patterns of evidence, a reader has no reason to believe a writer. Memories of domestic abuse I experienced can be corroborated only partially, whereas the contents of my memories of the car accident and of Baxter’s memories surrounding being fired can be corroborated fully by outside sources (eye-witnesses, police reports, diary entries, correspondence, work records, interviews with co-workers, severance agreements), rendering them, I hope, more credible examples. In addition, accounts historically attributed the fault of the victim (e.g., cases of unreported rape or psychological abuse) are often rated as having low credibility and are more likely to be dismissed or relegated to the emotional impasse of “he said—she said.” Car accidents not involving substance abuse are not generally considered the fault of the victim. On the other hand, being fired from a job is usually considered the employee’s fault—unless the employee can demonstrate a history of documented evaluations of doing excellent work in addition to a pattern of discrimination by a specific supervisor. Although restoration of an employee’s good reputation is made extremely complex in states where non-union employees are retained “at-will,” potential employers can override the reservations they associate with the dismissal if provided sufficiently documented third-party evidence of an excellent work history. My second reason for not including more than brief references to my own history of domestic abuse stems from my argument in this paper that writing about one’s own trauma can be in itself traumatic and shame-evoking, and the ensuing physiological responses can result in further traumatization rather than healing. By not writing about my own experiences, I claim the right to privacy and the right not to re-experience the trauma of my own history.