; Whereas post-traumatic stress significantly increases the risk of anxiety, depression, suicide, homelessness, and drug- and alcohol-related disorders and deaths, especially if left untreated; Whereas public perceptions of post-traumatic stress or other mental health disorders create unique challenges for veterans seeking employment; Whereas the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Veteran Service Organizations, as well as the larger medical community, both private and public, have made significant advances in the identification, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of post-traumatic stress and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress, but many challenges remain; Whereas increased understanding of post-traumatic stress can help eliminate the stigma attached to this mental health issue; Whereas additional efforts are needed to find further ways to eliminate the stigma associated with post-traumatic stress, including— (1) an examination of how post-traumatic stress is discussed in the United States; and (2) a recognition that post-traumatic stress is a common injury that is treatable and repairable; Whereas post-traumatic stress can result from any number of stressors other than combat, including rape, sexual assault, battery, torture, confinement, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters, and affects approximately 8,000,000 adults in the United States annually; Whereas the diagnosis now known as PTSD was first defined by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980 to commonly and more accurately understand and treat veterans who had endured severe traumatic combat stress; Whereas combat stress had previously been viewed as a mental illness, and the word disorder carries a stigma that perpetuates this misconception