Post-traumatic embitterment disorder

Post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) is a proposed disorder modeled after post-traumatic stress disorder. Some psychiatrists are proposing this as a mental disorder because they believe there are people who have become so bitter they can barely function. PTED patients do not fit the formal criteria for PTSD and can be clinically distinguished from it, prompting the description of a new and separate disorder.
German psychiatrist Michael Linden, who has conducted research on the proposed disorder, describes its effect on people: "They feel the world has treated them unfairly. It's one step more complex than anger. They're angry plus helpless." He says that people with the disorder are almost treatment resistant and that; "These people usually don't come to treatment because 'the world has to change, not me. He believes that 1 to 2 percent of people are affected at any given time, and explains that, although sufferers of the disorder tend to have a desire for vengeance, "...Revenge is not a treatment."
Psychopharmacology
There are no published or suggested studies on drug treatments for PTED. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's) are antidepressants like: Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Zoloft, Celexa, and Luvox. They have some benefit in PTED due to their antiobsessional properties. Anafranil, a TCA, is also used extensively.
=="Regular" embitterment and reactive embitterment==
PTED is a psychological adjustment-reactive disorder more severe than just being embittered in colloquial language. It can be qualitatively measured with high scientific reliability and repeatability.
The related concepts are discussed and distinguished: (ordinary) embitterment, reactive embitterment, versus PTED. Reactive embitterment may be: specific, diffuse or non-PTED. Various rating, assessment scales, and distinctions are studied and investigated.

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