Having read Belleruth Naparstek's book Invisible Heroes, I think this article does her own approach a disservice by bringing in the word "incurable". It's eye-catching and this is journalism after all (don't start me on journalism), but it isn't helpful. I think she's using it in the wider context of treatment and healing, but I think it's the wrong word to use. It only makes it inconsistent because the article itself rightly doesn't claim any "cure". Her book certainly doesn't. It's about healing and recovery, and how - as Abstract says - a) there are effective approaches/treatments and b) talking too soon can be damaging.
I do see the distinction between being able to talk about something afterwards, or not. I was once on a plane that had to make a controlled crash landing and we all thought we were going to die, but it didn't cause (or add to) my PTSD because of what happened afterwards. It wasn't a secret, it wasn't shameful, I had no guilt, other people had been through it too, and when I had to get on another plane a few days later I was given special arrangements which included a crew member with me for the whole flight.
It wasn't that I did talk much about it, but I knew what had happened and my reactions were appropriate. I wasn't denying, minimising, suppressing or distorting it. For example, when checking in for the later flight I was shaking and sweating from fear and I had to explain that I'd been on the plane that crash landed at [location] on [day]. I think that's all that's meant by having the narrative, being able to talk about it and having appropriate reactions. The PTS/PTSD version would be being unable to get the words out, dissociating, fragmenting, dismissing it etc.
Although I had no idea about trauma then, I now see that getting the later flight and going through that somatic processing while safe was the best thing to do. Sitting in a room discussing it with someone wouldn't have been helpful - in fact I never did need that, other than telling friends. Thinking about it now, massage would have been wonderful at the time (for this).
