Diplomats honor colleague who fought for PTSD treatment

From CNN's Charley Keyes

WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. diplomats Thursday honored one of their colleagues for demanding acceptance and treatment for the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) she developed during her service in Iraq.

Rachel Schneller received a Constructive Dissent Award from the American Foreign Service Association. She was praised for "her professional courage and integrity in speaking out publicly on the sensitive issue of the occurrence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder incurred by many Foreign Service employees returning from a tour in Iraq."

An estimated 17 percent of people who serve as diplomats in Iraq and Afghanistan develop stress-related illnesses, according to a State Department survey conducted last year.