Georgia Passes Bill to Note PTSD on License

Georgia legislators have passed a bill that, if signed, would allow veterans suffering from PTSD to note the disorder on their driver's license. It would be the first state to mark a medical condition on a driver's license, but some veterans doubt anyone would opt in. “Why would I want to put out there on my license, 'hey, I'm a nut job?'” asks the head of a local Vietnam Veterans' group.

But the bill's sponsor, Democrat Ron Ramsey, tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he wrote the bill because a veteran approached him with fears that he'd someday encounter police who didn't understand his condition. “He said, 'God forbid anybody put handcuffs on me. I'd go berserk.'” He notes that the designation is totally voluntary. “This is how it is supposed to work—an ordinary citizen came up and said, 'This is what I need.'” (More post-traumatic stress disorder stories.)