"It's not a hero's story!" said Jackie Spinner about her book "Tell Them I Didn't Cry," which relates the nearly two years that she spent in Iraq as a journalist for the Washington Post. The book was a main topic of conversation during the convocation that she gave on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as defined in the fourth edition of "The American Heritage College Dictionary," is a psychological disorder of individuals who have experienced profound trauma, such as torture, marked by recurrent flashbacks, nightmares, eating disorders, anxiety, fatigue, forgetfulness, and withdrawal.
When Spinner spoke with the Honors 190 class, she explained that her five-year-old nephew Aiden summed PTSD up by saying, "It is where someone has seen so many sad things that they forget how to be happy."
According to Spinner, that is a very accurate definition. "You have to learn how to live again." For many, that is hard to do.
As a journalist, words are Spinner's life. Of the time she spent in Iraq, Spinner said, "I fought with my pen."
However, when Spinner returned home she was unable to find any words that expressed what she experienced. Therefore, Spinner turned to art therapy.
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A five year old can understand what PTSD but too many in this country can't or won't. For some with PTSD, they feel they do not deserve to be happy either.
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