Peter Barglow, MD

Radicalization by Norwegian converts to the Prophet’s Ummah produced massive and terrible social consequences. The explanations offered may be pertinent to the current attraction that ISIS offers for too many young persons in many countries of the civilized world.

Currently the Veterans Administration (VA) is the world’s largest recipient of per patient funding for PTSD. The VA treats 200,000 veterans with this diagnosis annually at a cost of $4 billion. But research calls into question the very existence of the “PTSD” syndrome, and its diagnostic formulation remains invalid. We do not minimize the suffering of those who experience trauma or the need for comfort and restitution. We seek only to reexamine research evidence, to clarify the impact of culture on diagnosis, to reevaluate the consequences of trauma, and to ensure optimal allocation of resources.