Florida Senate - 2020                            (NP)    SR 1730
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       15-01606-20                                           20201730__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing June 27, 2020, and each June
    3         27 thereafter, as “Posttraumatic Stress Injury
    4         Awareness Day” and each June as “Posttraumatic Stress
    5         Injury Awareness Month” in Florida.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, all citizens of the United States possess the
    8  basic human right to the preservation of personal dignity and
    9  deserve the investment of every possible resource to ensure
   10  their lasting physical, mental, and emotional well-being, and
   11         WHEREAS, the diagnosis known as posttraumatic stress
   12  disorder (PTSD) was initially formulated in 1980 by the American
   13  Psychiatric Association to more accurately assess and assist
   14  veterans who had endured severe combat stress in Vietnam, and
   15         WHEREAS, combat stress is an invisible wound that has
   16  historically been unjustly portrayed as a mental illness caused
   17  by a preexisting flaw of character or ability, and the term
   18  “disorder” carries a stigma that perpetuates this misconception,
   19  and
   20         WHEREAS, it has been shown though electromagnetic imaging
   21  that these invisible wounds can cause physical changes to the
   22  brain which more accurately describe an injury than a disorder,
   23  and
   24         WHEREAS, referring to invisible wounds as a disorder can
   25  discourage the injured from seeking proper and timely medical
   26  treatment, and
   27         WHEREAS, posttraumatic stress injury can occur following
   28  exposure to extremely traumatic events other than combat, such
   29  as, but not exclusive to, interpersonal violence, life
   30  threatening accidents, and natural disasters, and
   31         WHEREAS, persons with a posttraumatic stress injury that
   32  satisfies criteria A through H of the diagnosis for PTSD in the
   33  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
   34  Edition, deserve disability compensation equal to that allowed
   35  for PTSD under the law, and
   36         WHEREAS, while all Americans who have suffered
   37  posttraumatic stress injuries are deserving of our compassion
   38  and consideration, those brave men and women of the United
   39  States Armed Forces who have suffered these wounds in
   40  operational action against an enemy of the United States also
   41  deserve clear and prominent recognition, and
   42         WHEREAS, timely and appropriate treatment of posttraumatic
   43  stress injury can diminish complications and avert suicides,
   44  NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That June 27, 2020, and each June 27 thereafter, is
   49  recognized as “Posttraumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day,” and
   50  each June is recognized as “Posttraumatic Stress Injury
   51  Awareness Month” in Florida.
   52         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Departments of Health,
   53  Military Affairs, and Veterans’ Affairs are encouraged to
   54  continue their efforts to educate those who have experienced
   55  interpersonal violence, life-threatening accidents, and natural
   56  disasters and their families, as well as the general public,
   57  about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of posttraumatic
   58  stress injury.