Psychiatrists noted on Wednesday that the capital murder guilty verdict on Eddie Ray Routh, the killer of the "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle, could result in long-lasting damage on the reputation of veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While the trial helped destigmatize PTSD to a certain extent, said San Antonio psychiatrist Harry Croft, people who followed the legal drama would likely remember that the defense use PTSD as excuse for the death of Kyle.

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Routh was a Marine who family and friends said changes dramatically because of his military service from an outgoing personality to someone struggling with psychosis. As he was confined in and out of mental institutions, he showed violence toward his family and became a drug dependent and alcoholic, reports USA Today.

Jodi Routh, the mother of Routh, said he was no longer the happy-go-lucky person he used to be before he joined the Marines. To help her troubled son, Jodi asked friend Kyle to meet him, which eventually ended in Eddie shooting the bemedalled soldier known for his sniper skills.

The defense pointed to Eddie's tough assignments such as cleaning up corpses in Haiti killed by the earthquake and as jail warden in Iraq as contributors to his PTSD.

However, the prosecution insisted that Routh already has the PTSD before he had problems with the law, and stressed the Marine knew what he did was wrong. Juror Barrett Hutchinson likewise said that "He knew the consequences of pulling the trigger."

Dick Goetz, chairman of the Texas Wounded Warrior Foundation, said there was no question that Routh was suffering from PTSD, but cited other veterans' belief that the ailment is not an excuse to kill two people.

University of Texas law professor George Dix stresses that the use of insanity as defense is very rare, and "it's even rare that a defendant wins it." A brutal crime makes it difficult for the defense to convince the jury that the accused does not deserve the condemnation that goes with a guilty verdict, especially in the "American Sniper" case where the victim was a hero, reports AP.

PTSD affects 20 percent of the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and 7 percent of Americans who have been victims of rape, muggings, hurricanes and other violent crimes. But the amount of workplace discrimination for veterans with PTSD is higher than those from other causes of PTSD.

TagsAmerican Sniper, Chris Kyle, Eddie Ray Routh, PTSD, Murder