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Explainer | What is PTSD? Experts on the symptoms, treatment and causes as Japan’s ex-princess Mako shows it can strike anyone
- Signs of PTSD include significant changes in behaviour, mood and personality, social withdrawal, and an increased use of alcohol or drugs
- PTSD symptoms are not signs of weakness, but can affect people of all personality types – anyone who has experienced a shocking event is susceptible
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As Japan’s ex-princess Mako shows us, mental illness can strike anyone, no matter how rich or famous.
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Mako married her commoner boyfriend Kei Komuro on October 26, not before the palace announced that she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hoping to halt the frenzied media coverage of the couple’s complex relationship.
The media interest involved a long-running controversy over an outstanding 4 million yen (US$36,000) loan to Komuro’s mother from her former fiancé, borrowed to pay the costs of his university education.
Komuro also caused a furore when he arrived back in Japan from the US for the wedding sporting a ponytail – with critics bashing his hairstyle as unsuitable for a man about to marry a princess.
The pressure from the intense media scrutiny over the four years leading up to their nuptials took a toll on Mako, who has since moved to New York with her new husband to dodge the limelight.
PTSD can affect anyone, not only celebrities hounded by reporters. It is commonly diagnosed in war veterans who have suffered or witnessed horrors on the battlefield, but anyone who has experienced a shocking, scary or dangerous event is susceptible – including those living through the coronavirus pandemic.
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