Re: Hero's Syndrome? I feel for the poor man.

Re: "Experts Say 'Hero Syndrome Not Common Among Police'" by Damien Cave (New York Times, August 2)

Dear Editor, New York Times:

Probably the reason that Damien Cave had such a hard time finding experts to diagnose Joseph Rodriguez's bizarre behavior is because it is not hero's syndrome that led him to explode a bomb and then attempt to rescue people in the Times Square subway, but rather Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-- a result of his direct witnessing of the horrors of 9/11. I've read elsewhere that the poor man was having recurrent nightmares and flashbacks of 9/11, the trauma of seeing so many wounded and dying people playing over and over in his mind. The real question is not why hero syndrome is uncommon among police, but rather, how many police officers are suffering from the memories of 9/11? What are the effects of seeing so many people die that they couldn't help? Certainly Mr Rodriguez's actions were extreme, but it isn't fair to label him a "narcissist in a slump." Like so many others, he was most likely a traumatized man desperately trying to exorcize the painful trauma of 9/11.

Sincerely, Citizen Kay