When is a #PTSD not a PTSD book? When it isn't what you expect or have been led to believe.
"In The Scribe of Salem: Ministers of the Mystery, the first book in the Ministers of the Mystery series, Kathie Costos takes readers on a wild fictional journey that has one foot in reality. Filled with suspense, historical intrigue, magic and scripture, get ready for an edge-of-your-seat novel that’ll leave you wanting more."
For 4 decades, I've been saying the same thing but the suffering that didn't need to happen kept happening. What I was saying was not, and is not, wrong. The problem is, this site didn't get through to enough people. The videos didn't get through to enough people. The non-fiction books I wrote didn't get through enough and the fiction ones didn't work.
I had to find a new way of telling what needs to be known and leave it up to the reader to take away what they need from this work.
The Ministers Of The Mystery Series is about everyone struggling to heal after surviving. There are veterans in it from different decades. A retired police officer struggling to heal after PULSE. Survivors of domestic violence and child abuse. A retired pastor struggling to heal from what taking care of his congregation did to him. And the one they all joined forces to save, a newspaper reporter.
There is a review coming out on Wednesday, January 18th. I couldn't believe how much the reviewer got out of it. Yet, not once did she mention the term PTSD.
I figured, who knows horror more than people that survived the cause of their PTSD?
"Readers will also appreciate the tragic characters that Kathie Costos crafted. Each character has a backstory, a darkness that surrounds them. They try to get rid of that lingering shadow, yes, but it’s always there. This, paired with the author’s atmospheric writing, turns The Scribe of Salem into an almost modern-gothic novel that is in the same vein as Edgar Allan Poe’s works."
I can't wait until you can read the rest but for now, I hope you see that just because a lot of people are doing a lot of things to help others with PTSD, it is because we all matter!
This morning my inbox was filled with news that Prince Harry, Hailey Bieber, and veterans are suffering from PTSD. (I had to look up who Hailey Bieber was. How is it that there were at least 50 alerts on her?)
What I didn't see were alerts on what happens to survivors as humans living through something that could cause PTSD. Sometimes I feel as if I am the only one trying to get reporters to pay attention to all of us, since there are more average people of all ages struggling to heal and trying to get some hope they can do it.
Sorry but, that's all I can write on this right now. It's too frustrating to deal with today.
If you have PTSD, then you know how to spot the demon someone else is struggling to get rid of. We can all see that all-too-familiar sadness in the eyes of someone else. Once our own eyes were opened by those that came before us, we begin to notice how it has been inflicting people since the beginning of time. You may wonder, as I do, why others never understand what is right in front of them.
If you look up famous movies about PTSD, you won't find the one playing in your dreams every night or in the flashbacks that come without warning. Sadly, if you look online for a list of movies with characters struggling with it, you won't find as many as there have been because the list makers do not seem to understand that is part of the script even if not overtly so.
Most of the lists I found were the same and I picked this one from Ranker to give you an idea.
"This list answers the questions, "What are the best post-traumatic stress disorder movies?" and "What is the greatest post-traumatic stress disorder movie of all time?"
1, The Deer Hunter
2, American Sniper
3, Fearless
4, Jacobs Ladder
5, Brothers
6, Perks Of Being A Wallflower
7, Ordinary People
8, Taxi Driver
9, The War At Home
10, First Blood
11, The Edge Of Love
12, Grand Toreno
13, Jackknife
14, Red Dragon
15, The Fisher King
My eyebrows are hurting because I kept waiting to see the ones we know. They aren't there. They do not call it PTSD when they show flashbacks, nightmares, mood swings, or emotional turmoil by characters unable to leave the past in the past. Yet, once you read this list, if you come across a movie you have seen, you'll never think of the movie the same way again when you go back and watch it.
The Best Years Of Our Lives
The Robe
The Messenger
Season Of The Witch
It's A Wonderful Life
Jimmy Stewart brought his demon with him into the role after WWII.
EXCLUSIVE: How Jimmy Stewart's agony in It's a Wonderful Life came from extreme PTSD he suffered after he lost 130 of his men as a fighter pilot in WWII
Actor Jimmy Stewart was haunted by his memories from his time in the Air Force and suffered from PTSD when he returned from World War II
Stewart wrestled with the guilt of killing civilians in bomb raids over France and Germany and felt responsible for the death of his comrades
Stewart never talked about his struggles and bottled up his emotions
But they came out when acting parts he chose when he returned to Hollywood
He tapped into his emotional distress during the filming of It's a Wonderful Life, where his character George Bailey unravels in front of his family
Stewart's anguish is laid bare for the first time in Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the fight for Europe by author Robert Matzen (read more here)
I bet there are even more you may be thinking about right now. Any movie with nightmares of things that have been or flashbacks will have a reason for that being in the script. Use your inner PTSD couch critic and let other people you know see what you see, so they will be able to recognize the demons in the eyes of others. Then maybe we can all decide that there is no reason to hide the battles we fight since they are all watching these movies as entertainment.
If you are involved with church people, then read the Psalms with fresh eyes and you'll find it there too!
My neck hurts right now. As I was reading the following article, I found myself nodding my head in agreement so much so, I need to share this. Since most of the readers are struggling with #PTSD, we all know that the spiritual battle comes in with the list of things we must overcome to heal. Too many of us know what it is like to seek spiritual help from "houses of worship" and sadly, find no help within those doors.
We are not alone on this. Jesus was not welcomed either. His "house of worship" leaders hated Him because they feared His messages.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were all about money and power. They charged people for everything, from buying the sacrifice, and paying them to do the sacrifice after they paid for a ritual bath before the rest would be done. If they did not have the ability to control the people, they would lose power and thus lose the wealth they gained. Jesus was preaching about a direct connection between them and God, Their Father.
John the Baptist did not charge money to baptize anyone. They hated him too.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:7
Jesus preached about love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and taking care of the needy. He preached outside among the people and spoke of how they could seek God directly on their own. Studying scripture, often stuns me how much was left in the approved books of the Bible supporting the fact that we do not need a building to connect us to God. We only need the Son He sent to us.
When you read the following, please go to the link and read the rest of it. Understand that your problem with God may have more to do with what you have seen men do here than what God has done from Heaven.
Healing spiritually added to mental health help expands your recovery!
JESUS Would Be Considered “NEW AGE” By Today’s CHURCH
Christian Meditations
If Jesus Were Here Today, Would He Be Considered “New Age” by the Modern Church?
As a spiritual leader and teacher, Jesus has had a profound impact on millions of people around the world for centuries. His message of love, compassion, and forgiveness has resonated with people of all faiths and backgrounds, and his teachings have been a source of inspiration and guidance for countless individuals.
But what if Jesus were alive today? How would he be perceived by the modern church, and would his teachings be considered “new age” or outside the mainstream?
To explore this question, let’s take a closer look at some of the key aspects of Jesus’ teachings and how they might be perceived in the modern world.
Jesus’ emphasis on personal transformation and inner growth. One of the central themes of Jesus’ teachings was the importance of personal transformation and inner growth. He encouraged his followers to look within and seek to transform their lives from the inside out. In the Sermon on the Mount, he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). This suggests that Jesus saw true happiness and fulfillment as being a result of inner transformation, rather than external circumstances or achievements.
In the modern world, this emphasis on inner growth and transformation might be seen as “new age” or outside the mainstream. Many modern Christians tend to focus more on external forms of faith, such as attendance at church services or adherence to certain religious practices, rather than on inner transformation and spiritual growth. Jesus’ emphasis on love and compassion. Another key aspect of Jesus’ teachings was his emphasis on love and compassion.
In the modern world, this emphasis on inner growth and transformation might be seen as “new age” or outside the mainstream. Many modern Christians tend to focus more on external forms of faith, such as attendance at church services or adherence to certain religious practices, rather than on inner transformation and spiritual growth. Jesus’ emphasis on love and compassion. Another key aspect of Jesus’ teachings was his emphasis on love and compassion. read more here
Whatever caused you to have #PTSD, you probably needed to find an explanation as to why it happened to you.
There was real evil in Salem in 1692. It did not live in the accused but in the accusers. They broke most of the 10 Commandments. They murdered innocent people, put another God ahead of God, blamed God by Name for what they were doing, stole, lied, and used the power of faith to corrupt others into the service of the father of lies. They turned against the faith they claimed to have and turned to the lust for power over others. The survivors were left to wonder why it happened to them after they were falsely accused, tortured, and faced death. Then, after they were released to live among their accusers, imagine how they felt. The more I know about PTSD, the more I don't have to imagine what that is like. How many times did it happen to you when you were falsely accused by people you knew because they didn't know any better? If you take nothing else away from this post, imagine how the people at the time had no other explanation for any of it, yet we do. We know that as survivors, there is a reason for the cause of our suffering, just as much as there is a reason for our healing!
Lancaster Castle, where all but two accused witches were put on trials. (Credit: Dave Moorhouse/Getty Images)
Pendle: England, 1612–1634
"Required to report anyone who refused to attend the English Church or take communion, the local Justice of the Peace, Roger Nowell, was also tasked with investigating claims of witchcraft."
People all over the world suffered because of wars, illnesses, famine, and things they could not explain. They had to find someone to blame. Some said God let it all happen. Others said the devil did. They pointed their fingers at others. 200,000 dead. They died because people lied about them and called them witches. They died because some of them were poor. They died because some of them were rich. They died because some of them did the right thing and tried to stand up for them against the false accusations, and ended up being accused too. They died because of greed, power, and hatred. They died in the name of their religion.
Did you ever wonder why God allowed it to happen? He couldn't have been pleased to see His name used to cause all that happened. While we know eventually all the trials ended, we question why they were allowed to happen at all.
Whatever caused you to have #PTSD, you probably needed to find an explanation as to why it happened to you. No matter what it was, it caused you harm and made you fear for your life. When it was over, and your life was no longer the same as it was, either you were grateful you survived, or you took the event itself as a judgment from God.
I know because I did the same thing. I think it can be worse for those who do believe in God than for those who do not. After all, if you believe in God then you know nothing is impossible for Him. So why didn't He prevent it if He didn't cause it?
That is why I wrote the Ministers Of The Mystery Series.
In The Scribe Of Salem, Chris was born and raised in Salem. He always saw the love that conquered the evil done there because people did the right thing even though they had seen others pay the price for defending the innocent people accused and tortured as witches when they too became the accused.
In chapter 2, David was trying to get Chris to seek the help of the woman that healed him five years before. Chris survived all the times he went to Afghanistan and Iraq to report on the wars. He survived a bomb blast that left him covered with scars on the right side of his body. He survived his ex-wife trying to kill him. The night before this conversation, Chris also survived the threat he was to himself as he held a gun to his own head.
“What did all that do to you?”
“You know, with the wars I covered and getting blown up didn’t do as much damage to me as she did. I had nightmares and flashbacks, mood swings off the charts and so filled with anger, I had to go to the gym just to beat up a bag.”
“How did you manage to get the divorce if she didn’t want it to end?”
“I told her I kept the knife with her fingerprints and my blood on it and I’d turn her in for attempted murder if she didn’t agree to it. Then the day of the divorce, she told me I’d never be done with her and I’d always be looking over my shoulder. The thing is, she was right. I left her in LA and came back here, and was still looking over my shoulder, having a panic attack whenever I saw a red Mustang.”
“How long did that last?”
“Strange thing is, until last night when I found out she died. It was the first good night of sleep I’d had. On the way here, there was a red Mustang on the road and it didn’t bother me at all, other than the fact I was shocked I didn’t care.”
“I think you may want to take a trip to Gabriel and see if you can talk to Mandy.”
“No, I’m not a veteran.”
“She helps anyone God sends her. Trauma doesn’t just hit veterans.”
“I don’t have any extra money and besides, I wouldn’t know how to find her.”
“If you’re supposed to find her, trust that and you will.”
Chris shook his head. “You have no idea how strange that sounds to me right now. Up until you guys walked into the bar at 7:00, I would have told you what I thought about God,” he looked down, “that He’s a vindictive son of a bitch playing around with people’s lives and making us suffer for fun. Now I don’t know what to think.”
“You suffered for seven years, so ya, I get how you would feel that way. I did too for a while. The thing is, the explosion happened at 7:00 too, so maybe this time, He’s moving things around so you open your eyes to how wrong you were. Come on Bill is still waiting for us.”
It took his friends and strangers coming into his life to open his eyes so he would see that God did not do anything to him, but tried to prevent it from happening. When He couldn't, He saved Chris.
Chris thought it would have been easier to have not loved God in the first place, so it would have made it easier to walk away from Him. He had to be able to see what God did to try to prevent what happened to him. The same thing He does for all of us, but because we all have the free will to do as we are asked, or guided to do, we are free to dismiss it. Chris dismissed it and then blamed God for letting it all happen to him.
On a personal happier note, I finished therapy today and so glad I did it when I needed it.
The clock is ticking at worldometers! 8 billion people as of January 2, 2023, at 8:15 on the east coast of the United States. As for the US, "DEC. 29, 2022 — As the nation prepares to ring in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau today projected the U.S. population will be 334,233,854 on Jan. 1, 2023."
We know that PTSD does not just happen to veterans in the US. We know that it strikes human survivors. And now we know that most of the causes are because of what other humans do. The top five causes are all about other people doing something to cause the trauma.
(Check the link and see where the information came from.)
Report Highlights
6% or 3 in every 50 American adults will have gone through PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives [9].
The leading cause of PTSD is sexual violence at 33%, with 94% of rape victims developing symptoms of PTSD during the first two weeks after their traumatic experience [23] [28].
PTSD is most prevalent among American adults between the ages of 45 and 49 years old at 9.2% [12].
Women have a lifetime PTSD prevalence rate of 9.7%, compared to 3.6% in men [17].
Civilian women have a lifetime prevalence rate of 8%, compared to 13.4% among military women [24].
11% to 23% of veterans have experienced PTSD within a given year [2].
About 17.2 veterans die by suicide each day, with veterans being 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide than civilians [2].
3 in 10 or 30% of the first responders have PTSD [6].
6 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy can help ease symptom severity by about 50% in 21% to 46% of patients with PTSD [7].
People with PTSD who use cannabis for their symptoms are 2.57 times more likely to recover from this condition [3].
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an intense, uncontrollable emotional and physical reaction to a reminder of a traumatic event or distressing memories [4]. This abnormal response to triggers can last for days and even years after the harrowing incident or traumatic event.
Think about what that all means to people in the US, as well as around the world. For all we know about PTSD and the results of the causes, we will never know how many people have PTSD. There are far too many that will not be diagnosed and never enough people to be able to diagnose and treat the survivors. As long as we keep doing a lousy job of letting people know what PTSD is, why they have it, and give them hope, as well as a way to heal, we will keep seeing the suffering that does not have to happen.
Take the information you just learned and try an experiment on your own. Ask a friend or family member what they know about PTSD. If the response you get is the same one I've gotten for the last 40 years, they will say it is something veterans get. While we know that is not true, we know that they are the only group reporters want to cover. Even fewer reporters want to cover those serving today as if that makes sense to them. Why bother to report on when the events take place?
The clock is ticking around the world on the population of the planet but it is also ticking on the time lost when people survive what others do to them, but they don't have someone doing something for them.
If you are contemplating a field in mental health, God bless you because the world needs more people like you!
A Border Protection officer leading zip-tied migrants after they were taken into custody on January 1, 2023.James Keivom
The trauma experienced by migrants is typically two-fold: they are suffering from the memories they left behind while also carrying around mental anguish from their journeys, Byimana explained.
As a surge of asylum seekers overwhelm southern border cities, “most” of the migrants are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from their harrowing trip into the US.
The migrants’ arduous ordeals are often marred with violence, kidnappings and sexual assaults, according to Dr. Brian Elmore, who volunteers for weekend shifts at a shelter in El Paso, Texas.
“Most of our patients have symptoms of PTSD. I want to initiate a screening for every patient,” said Elmore, an emergency medicine doctor at Clinica Hope.
In many cases, the grueling hardships had been exacerbated by the pandemic emergency measure Title 42, which has been used to expel more than 2.5 million migrants from the US since March 2020, according to the Saturday report by the Associated Press. read more here
Providing Psychological Support to Ukrainian Children
United Help Ukraine
Through a unique international collaboration, United Help Ukraine is sponsoring and raising funds for the Hibuki Therapy Project. “Hibuki” means “Open Embrace” in Hebrew.
First developed by Israeli child psychologists in 2006, the Hibuki intervention uses a specially designed toy dog to support the mental health and recovery of children impacted by war trauma. Now we are bringing Hibuki dogs to Ukraine and countries of relocation to help countless children who have experienced the unimaginable.
This play-based intervention brings comfort and helps children share their emotions, which are often hard to process or communicate to adults who can – and want – to help. Hibuki dogs and therapy are provided to all families free of charge through a network of specially trained mental health professionals.
In Ukraine, children are one of the most vulnerable groups and are severely impacted by the ongoing crisis, and UHU is committed to providing psychological aid through the Hibuki Therapy Project.
All of the Hibuki toys and therapeutic support is provided to Ukrainian children free of charge through a network of specially trained volunteers and mental health professionals.
Israeli innovation helps Ukraine's PTSD-afflicted children
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: DECEMBER 6, 2022
Kinder Velt Child Trauma Center in Ukraine
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The children's trauma center in Ukraine draws on experience from another country that knows war and terror too well: Israel.
As war rages on in Ukraine and a season of bitter coldness and erratic electricity commences, a center started by an Israeli-Ukrainian is administering developmental and psychological therapies to the nation's children.
“When we began seeing how deeply the children were suffering, we resolved to take action,” said David Roytman, who splits his time between Israel and his native Odessa, and founded the Kinder Velt (Children's World) Center nearly three years ago.
Roytman, an internationally-acclaimed artist and multimillionaire whose luxury Judaica company earned him the reputation as the ‘Jewish Louis Vuitton,’ is familiar with anxiety and trauma from war. read more here
From me,
We learn how to heal after others did so we can learn from them. We can learn from their mistakes and pass on their successes. The most important thing we gain from listening to other survivors battling PTSD is hope! Our world may be dark one day but does not have to stay dark forever. Their struggles shine a light on the way to healing.
A friend named Bert: A Canadian veteran living with PTSD finds hope in a donkey
CTV News Canada
Joel Haslam
CTV News Ottawa Multi-Skilled Journalist
December 27, 2022
Karen is living with PTSD. She is a veteran of the Canadian Forces, doing her best to live with a painful past.
Karen Stacey, a Canadian Forces veteran living with PTSD, enjoys a gentle stroll with her friend Bert (Joel Haslam/CTV Ottawa)
Karen Stacey swings wide a creaky, stainless steel gate, announcing her arrival.
“Good morning, Bert. Are you still sleeping?”
She’s come to see a friend; a soulmate of sorts, who’s changed her life.
“Hi, buddy,” she says with a smile.
Bert turns his head toward her, clearly recognizing his visitor.
His ears point to the sky.
“Hello, handsome,” Karen whispers.
She locks her arms around his neck and gives him a gentle peck between the eyes.
“He’s a blessing. I couldn’t have asked for a better success story than to have a donkey as my best friend.”
Karen and Bert’s friendship began at the Women Warriors Healing Garden in Blackburn Hamlet.
“It still hurts. So, finding this place and being able to let everything go is fantastic. This is 52 acres of freedom that I can wander as I want. No judgment, no stress, no pain. Just a lot of love,” she says.
Co-founded by an American military veteran, Erin Kinsey, and an Ottawa psychotherapist, Elaine Waddington Lamont, the garden is a place for veterans to heal. read more here
Military suicides have become slightly less common, but are still a 'massive problem'
American Homefront Project
By Steve Walsh
Published December 11, 2022
Though military suicide has been a problem for decades, critics say the Pentagon hasn’t come to terms with the fact that anyone can potentially be at risk.
More than 500 military personnel die by suicide each year, though the number dropped slightly last year. This summer a Pentagon Committee visited bases around the world including Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Naval Air Station North Island in California, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the North Carolina National Guard, and Camp Humphreys in South Korea. The panel also visited three bases in Alaska, where there have been several suicides.
Despite the scrutiny, another four suicides took place in November at the Navy’s Regional Maintenance Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Earlier in the year, in nearby Newport News, seven suicides were reported on the USS George Washington.
After visiting the ship, Master Chief Russell Smith told Congress in May that he once struggled with suicidal thoughts. He also recounted a story of a colleague - a Navy SEAL - who died by suicide.
“Suicide is a massive problem for us, because it’s the one thing we can prevent absolutely by getting inside people’s headspace and connecting to them,” Smith said. read more here
Now that you read that, read this.
I never served, but I survived. I never fought in a war, but I fought battles to heal. I've listened to veterans for 4 decades but one conversation still sticks out in my mind.
A veteran, tough as they come, took offense when he asked me about my service. I told him I didn't serve. He started shouting at me about how I had no clue what it was like for him. I told him he was right. Then I listed the things I survived, all ten of them. I asked him if he had a clue what any of that was like for me. He said he didn't. Then I asked him if he could understand what all of that did to me. He was silent for a while, and I heard him sniffle. He said he did.
I can't understand what WWII did to my uncles, or Korea did to my Dad, or Vietnam to my husband. I can understand what surviving did to them because I survived what I did.
If you can't understand how surviving anything changes you, then do some basic research on all the others that end up fighting a battle with the demon PTSD, and know, you are not alone. You are human and survived something most people will never know. Don't expect them to understand. Don't dismiss them when they may be able to help you, even though you did not have the same experience cause it.
We are the world's leading research and educational center of excellence on PTSD and traumatic stress.
PTSD is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening or traumatic event. If symptoms last more than a few months, it may be PTSD. The good news is that there are effective treatments.
Look over on the right for the dropdown menu. Read the lists of others that also fight their battles with PTSD. Then understand something. Most of the time, PTSD strikes after just one exposure. How many did you go through?
Once you've learned more about #PTSD, consider something else. If you were willing to die to save someone else, are you willing to heal to save others too? If you share your healing with others, they will find the hope they can heal too and they are not alone. They will pass it on. Think of all the lives you'll be able to save by sharing your struggles with us, and we can do the same for those who serve this country. We may not all understand the cause but we can all speak the language of healing! Would be a great way to start the New Year!
Appeals court rules spouses of officers who die by suicide are entitled to death benefit
KSTP
Eric Chaloux
Updated: December 21, 2022
“They see things regularly that if we saw one of those things in our life time, we’d be affected by it for the rest of our lives,” Cindy Lannon said.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals found that a surviving spouse of a public safety officer who dies by suicide is “entitled to the death benefit for survivors of officers ‘killed in the line of duty’ if the officers death resulted from post-traumatic stress disorder from the job”, according to the court’s opinion.
For more than 30 years, Jerry Lannon protected and served the community, including since 1999, as a Deputy Sheriff in Washington County.
“Jerry always loved his job, he loved going to work, in the last few months of his life, it completely turned, and he was dreading going to work,” said Cindy Lannon, Deputy Lannon’s wife.
58-year-old Deputy Lannon died by suicide in November 2018. read more here
PTSD demon tells you that there is no hope for you.
Hope responds there is no room for that demon in your life. You have healing to do.
PTSD demon tells you that you were meant to suffer.
Hope responds that you survived because you were not meant to die.
PTSD demon tells you that you should be ashamed of the voices in your head.
Hope responds that the only voice in your head that doesn't belong there is the demon!
Think about the person or event that caused you harm, and it is still trying to destroy you. Think about the fact that you survived it, and that makes you a survivor, no longer a victim of "it" and it doesn't get to determine the rest of your life.
David Mac Donald strolled into the bar. He was tall, and muscular, with fiery red flowing hair with a scraggly beard. He looked more like an ancient Scottish warrior than he did when he was in the Army with cropped hair. David’s family moved from Scotland when he was starting high school and he joined the Army as soon as he graduated. When he walked over to the group, they all got up out of their chairs and hugged, then he saw Chris. “Oh my God! Nanos!” He walked over to him. As soon as he got a closer look at his eyes, he could see an all too familiar pain the fake smile couldn’t cover up. He gave him a bear hug and whispered in his Scottish accent, “Your demon is in control for now. Time to take back your life as we did.”
David recognized the demon in Chris, because for a long time, he one too. It was clear on the darkest night of Chris's life, the conspiracy was working.
One of the conversations Chris had later was with Ed, his bartender and, as far as Chris knew, the only friend he had for the last three years, showed the plans were starting to work.
“I know I don’t want to live like this anymore. You just gave me a gift I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay.”
“Then pay it forward to someone else you come into contact with and use your gift as a writer to help them heal too. There are millions of people in this country right now suffering instead of healing because they don’t know what to do to defeat the demons they face. You can help them with that after you heal and get stronger.”
“Do you think that’s what He wants me to do? Why me? People are gonna know what a screwup I am. What qualifies me to write about all these, saintly people doing good all over the place?”
“Because the saints in the Bible were all screw-ups too. We all are. Every single one of them messed up. People forget that part instead of seeing that if God could use people like them to make miracles happen, He could do it with anyone. You have the choice to turn to what is dark in you sent by Satan, or hang on to what is light in you from God, just like they did.”
“So you’re saying people turn to darkness by choice?”
“Yes, but mostly because they think that’s the only road they can take. They can’t pray to God for themselves at the same time they turn away from Him. That’s when other people pray for them because they can’t. Isn’t that what He just laid out in front of you?”
Isn't that what was just laid in front of you too?
No end in sight to war for overwhelmed Ukraine psychologists dealing with the mental health fallout
Toronto Star
By Katharine Lake Berz Special to the Star
Dec. 17, 2022
Beyond dealing with the physical horrors, a mixture of panic attacks, insomnia, flashbacks, anxiety and depression affect majority of patients doctors see suffering from PTSD
IVANO-FRANKIVSK, Ukraine — Susanna Anhelova’s heart aches as she looks out at the 70 somber souls waiting to start the support program for women she is leading in western Ukraine. Anhelova has worked for 25 years with victims of trauma but says this is the hardest work she has ever faced.
One of the women in the room, barely past her teens, stares despondently at her phone. Another bows her head as her child whines. All are looking to Anhelova to help them recover. All have survived unimaginable abuse and torture as Russian prisoners of war.
Anhelova prays the electricity will stay on long enough for her to offer words of comfort and tries not to think of her own children near the shelling at their home in Kyiv.
“I must help these women learn to live again, so we can win this war,” she says.
The war in Ukraine has brought pain and hardship to millions of civilians since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. The European Union estimates that 20,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, with many more injured and millions left homeless. An estimated 15 million Ukrainians now need mental-health care, according to the Ukraine ministry of health.
“The devastation of the war is like the rings of a stone thrown in the water,” she says. “Larger and larger circles ripple forever.”
When Anhelova’s waves of memories threaten to overwhelm her, she reminds herself that her work is important.
“This is my front line, my struggle. This is what I can do for our victory.” read more here
Yesterday I intended to put up a post I had been working on for a couple of days. Usually, before I post, I like to take a break in between finishing it and publishing it. I love to share funny posts, especially about cats, dogs, and other animals. I also love to share uplifting stories. I went on Facebook to check my feed and saw a post that made me cry.
On Today Show. Santa came a few weeks early for a daughter who shared her Christmas wish for her mother on social media.
Taco-Bout-Joy's located in Glenview, Illinois, owned by sisters Joy Milan and Kack Keomanivong.
“It breaks my heart to see my mom watching the door every day, waiting for a customer to walk in,” reads the TikTok's on-screen caption. “I wish I could give her customers for Christmas.”
As of this writing, the TikTok has garnered over 38.5 million views, six million likes and more than 69,000 comments from those sharing their empathy about the situation and saying how much they want to try the restaurant’s offerings.
I cried so hard after I shared it, that I closed down the computer and walked away. I was crying for a reason I didn't expect. I cried for myself.
I was thinking that the miracle that happened for this woman, is something I have never known. For 4 decades I tried to make a difference to help others heal #PTSD. I watched as all the work I did was pushed out of the way for younger people, and accepted it, but I didn't let it stop me from doing what I could. I kept reaching out for help for myself, but it never came. I just kept doing what I could. I figured if I couldn't find a miracle for myself, then at least I could be a small part of making one for someone else.
I wish God granting a miracle was as easy as Him snapping His fingers. But it isn't.
Unlike Samantha on Bewitched, able to wiggly her nose or snap her fingers to change something, He has to have a human willing to participate in the delivering of the miracle.
The way I figure it is, I need to be responsible for myself and what I do. Everyone else is responsible for what they choose to do, or not do. I have a choice to think that all my prayers are just going into the air, or that God isn't interested in someone like me, or believe He's trying to help but the people who are supposed to help, won't.
When I know someone needs help, I do what I can, and what I can't do, I'll pray for them because I'm listening to my soul. I know the feeling I get inside having made a difference for someone else. Reading the story about the daughter helping her Mom, I knew how the daughter felt witnessing a miracle she hoped for happen because she tried out of love to help.
People like me, have a choice to make all the time. Do we stop helping because no one is helping us, or do we keep trying to make a difference because we not only know what it feels like to need miracles that don't come, but we know what it is like to be a part of someone else's miracle happening and keep doing what we can?
I won't tell you that it is always an easy thing to do. There will be times when it tears you apart. You will help someone and they will not be grateful at all. They may walk away from you, refuse to help you when you need it, or worst of all, betray you. When that happens, grieve for a while, then realize it happens to God all the time. It also happened to Jesus. They didn't give up and neither should we.
Hang onto the times you knew you made a difference in someone else's life and keep doing what you can because you know you should. Then remember that feeling because the people that will not help you, will never know what that feels like. That is what I've hung onto all these years. It is a priceless gift I did for someone else, and ended up giving even more to myself.
Remember what it was like when you discovered you had PTSD, feeling all alone, confused, and trying to figure things out for yourself. Then you found information because someone else shared it. You found hope because someone else offered it. You found hope because someone else shared how they healed. They were strangers, but they helped you without knowing anything about you. Chances are, you never thanked them or returned their kindness unless you passed on what you learned from them.
In the end, if you can't find a miracle for yourself, give one to someone else.
Raised with trauma, Sandy Hook survivors send hope to Uvalde
“I think what happened changed my entire life.”
Associated Press
By DAVE COLLINS and PAT EATON-ROBB
September 7, 2022
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The survivors who were able to walk out of Sandy Hook Elementary School nearly a decade ago want to share a message of hope with the children of Uvalde, Texas: You will learn how to live with your trauma, pain and grief. And it will get better.
They know what’s ahead. There’s shock, followed by numbness. There are struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety. Survivor’s guilt. Anger that these shootings continue to happen in America. Reliving their trauma every time there’s another mass shooting.
They know it will be hard to say they are from Uvalde. That well-meaning adults will sometimes make the wrong decisions to protect you. That grief can be unpredictable, and different for everyone.
Children who survived the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have grown up reliving their trauma with each new mass shooting in the U.S. Emotions well up especially when the shooting involves another elementary school like in Uvalde, Texas. (Sept. 7) (AP Video: Joseph B. Frederick, Julia Nikhinson)
But it wasn't just what happened at Sandy Hook that day. It was what came afterward that added to the agony.
Alex Jones trial: Sandy Hook parents have PTSD, live in terror, psychiatrist testifies
Austin American Statesman
Chuck Lindell
August 1, 2022
Criticized by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and confronted by some of his followers, the parents of 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis have developed post-traumatic stress disorder and live in constant anxiety and terror, a psychiatrist testified Monday.
Forensic psychiatrist Roy Lubit, a specialist in emotional trauma, said the parents' troubles were not caused by their son's violent death in the 2012 school shooting but by Jones' repeated portrayals of the attack as staged or faked on his InfoWars program.
"It's more than just interfering with healing, it has pushed them back ... into some of their earlier pain," Lubit said in a downtown Austin courtroom.
Later this week, a jury will be asked to determine how much Jones should pay to Jesse's parents, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, for defamation and emotional distress after repeatedly portraying the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which killed 20 students and six educators, as a hoax meant to justify a government crackdown on gun rights,
Heslin has had bullets fired at his home and car, and people who deny that the Sandy Hook attack took place have made threatening phone calls and sent harassing emails to both parents, Lubit testified. read more here
But they will not let that defeat the hope that they will heal enough to make a difference in this world to others. That as they still grieve, they do something to make sure others do not grieve alone.
A decade after Sandy Hook, grief remains but hope grows
Associated Press
By DAVE COLLINS
December 13, 2022
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — They would have been 16 or 17 this year. High school juniors.
The children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 should have spent this year thinking about college, taking their SATs and getting their driver’s licenses. Maybe attending their first prom.
Instead, the families of the 20 students and six educators slain in the mass shooting will mark a decade without them Wednesday.
December is a difficult month for many in Newtown, the Connecticut suburb where holiday season joy is tempered by heartbreak around the anniversary of the nation’s worst grade school shooting.
For former Sandy Hook students who survived the massacre, guilt and anxiety can intensify. For the parents, it can mean renewed grief, even as they continue to fight on their lost children’s behalf.
In February, Sandy Hook families reached a $73 million settlement with the gunmaker Remington, which made the shooter’s rifle. Juries in Connecticut and Texas ordered the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $1.4 billion for promoting lies that the massacre was a hoax. read more here
If you listen to people talking about PTSD, you'll often hear the word "demon" used. It is almost as if the person has been invaded by something evil and what is good within them is battling it on a daily basis.
an evil spirit or devil, especially one thought to possess a person or act as a tormentor in hell.
a cruel, evil, or destructive person or thing.
reckless mischief; devilry.
a forceful, fierce, or skillful performer of a specified activity. (Oxford)
Since trauma has existed since the beginning of time, while the term PTSD is relatively new, what survivors dealt with afterward, is far from new. Considering what the people survived in the time of witchcraft trials, here, as well as in other parts of the world, it is easier to understand how they would not be able to grasp psychological reasoning, and jumped straight into possession and Satan,
A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience (Pivotal Moments in American History)
Historians have speculated on a web of possible causes for the witchcraft that stated in Salem and spread across the region-religious crisis, ergot poisoning, an encephalitis outbreak, frontier war hysteria--but most agree that there was no single factor. Rather, as Emerson Baker illustrates in this seminal new work, Salem was "a perfect storm": a unique convergence of conditions and events that produced something extraordinary throughout New England in 1692 and the following years, and which has haunted us ever since.
The theory that may explain what was tormenting the afflicted in Salem’s witch trials Boston.com
Baker says it’s possible that a few of the accusers were purposefully faking their symptoms. However, he says that his ultimate conclusion after years of studying the events is that they were actually suffering from psychological ailments.
Foremost among them is something called mass conversion disorder, a psychogenic disorder that — ironically — made a suspected return to the Salem area more than 300 years later.
“People are in such mental anguish, for a variety of reasons, that literally their minds convert their anxieties to physical symptoms,” Baker told Boston.com.
“They’re not faking it,” he said. “They don’t know what’s going on. If it happens to people, they’re terrified that it’s even happening.”
From there, the “step from affliction to accusation was a short one,” Baker writes in his book about the trials, A Storm of Witchcraft. While societal scapegoats have evolved over time, he writes that “in 1692 the omnipresent threat was witchcraft.” And those identified in Salem were either marginalized members of the community or enemies of the powerful families leading the witch hunt.
Baker acknowledged that the conversion disorder — a term introduced by Sigmund Freud and otherwise known as mass hysteria — is “still kind of a controversial diagnosis today.”
“It’s hard to make that diagnosis 300 years in the past without the person right in front of you,” he said, adding that it’s possible that a combination of psychological elements played into the girls’ odd behavior.
When you think about what life was like back then, it is easy to think that the Puritans would have little knowledge of what trauma did to them, or what they were doing to others.
PTSD in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Historic Ipswich
by Gordon Harris
From the founding of the colony, the Puritans were highly selective of who they allowed to live with them. In the first year of its settlement, the Freemen of the Ipswich established “for our own peace and comfort” the exclusive right to determine the privileges of citizenship in the new community, and gave formal notice that “no stranger coming among us” could have place or standing without their permission. Beginning in 1656, laws forbade any captain to land Quakers, and any individual of that sect was to be severely whipped on his or her entrance, and none were allowed to speak with them. Newcomers who were unable to support themselves and their families were “warned out.”
Think about what the survivors were dealing with.
In Salem Village in February 1692, two prepubescent girls Betty Parris (age nine) and her cousin Abigail Williams (age 11) began to have fits, complained of being pricked with pins and accused their neighbors of witchcraft. Some of the afflicted girls had been traumatized after losing one or both parents in King William’s War. The afflicted girls routinely described the Devil as a “dark man.”George Burroughs, the unpopular predecessor to Rev. Parris in Salem Village, had come from Maine, and returned there when the parish refused to pay him. Only five weeks before the accusations began, Indians had burned York Maine, 80 miles north of Salem, killing 48 people and taking 73 captives. When one of the accused confessed that the Devil had tempted her in Maine, Reverend Burroughs was arrested, charged with witchcraft and encouraging the Indians, and was hanged on Gallows Hill.
Think about what Reverend Burroughs went through. The arrest warrant was issued ten years after he left Salem Village and was in Maine. He lost everything, including his first wife, whom he couldn't afford to bury and had to borrow money. The villagers refused to pay his salary and he had to leave for the sake of his family. The hatred from the people of Salem Village was so powerful, they were out to get him no matter how long it took to do it.
The Witchcraft Trial of Reverend George Burroughs History of Massachusetts
Burroughs encountered the same problems as his predecessor as well as hostility from Bayley’s friends and supporters, according to the book Salem Witchcraft by Charles W. Upham:
“Immediately upon calling to the village to reside, he encountered the hostility of those persons who, as the special friends of Mr. Bayley, allowed their prejudices to be concentrated upon his innocent successor. The unhappy animosities arising from this source entirely demoralized the Society, and, besides making it otherwise very uncomfortable to a minister, led to a neglect and derangement of all financial affairs. In September, 1681, Mr. Burrough’s wife died, and he had to run in debt for her funeral expenses. Rates were not collected, and his salary was in arrears.”
By now I hope you see that PTSD is not new. People accused others because they did not know what was causing everything they were dealing with. Over the years, I've learned that those who claim PTSD is not real, have never survived something, or are under some delusion that they may also have it. I remember one veteran many years ago, attacking me for posting on PTSD and claiming that it was not real. It took him a while before I received an email apologizing and he admitted he had it but fought for years to bury what it was doing to him, instead of trying to recover and heal.
We cannot do anything to educate those who do not want to learn. We cannot do anything more than learn what we can so we can be happier in our own lives and then reach out to others fighting their own demons.
We live in a time when we know there are psychological as well as spiritual aspects to what makes us, us. No human is designed to endure trauma over and over again without paying some kind of price. We also know that the price does not have to take over our lives. It does not have to destroy us after we survived what caused it. We are survivors! Say that to yourself over and over again until you finally realize that and then, be empowered to heal so you can rejoice as one.
They report on what causes PTSD in the rest of us. For us, all it takes to set off PTSD is the "one" time that was too many. Sometimes, that one time comes with the only time we survived. There is a growing number of reporters experiencing their "one too many" times and it is easy for us to understand that what they go through over and over again, can have a lasting impact. Stephanie Foo, Marcella Raymond, Colin Butler, Chris Cramer, and David Morris are just some joining the club no one wants to belong to.
I've talked to several reporters over the years and a few shared what they were going through. Now, they are not just reporting on the events that cause PTSD in the rest of us. They are talking about their own.
Workers who keep Canadians up to date on the latest news of the day are suffering disturbingly high levels of work-related stress and injury.
Nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) of journalists and media workers are suffering from anxiety and 46 percent go through depression, according to the “Taking Care: a report on mental health, well-being, and trauma among Canadian media workers” report.
Another 15 percent have post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the report based on the survey of 1,251 news executives, desk editors, frontline reporters, and video journalists.
The Madness by Fergal Keane review – the BBC correspondent on conflict, fear, and PTSD
The Guardian
Emma Graham-Harrison
17 Nov 2022
For Keane, many of these memories are of Rwanda. Going to testify at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which he saw as a moral duty, triggered another breakdown: “I dreamed vividly of the dead, horrible images that caused me to wake sweating, sometimes fighting in my sleep with arms flailing, knocking over my bedside lamp. I had experienced such symptoms immediately after the genocide but now they were accompanied by crippling anxiety. Panic attacks kept me in bed for days.”
Fergal Keane at the Ukrainian army frontline at Peski in Donbas, 2016. Photograph: Unknown/BBC/Fergal Keane
A brutally honest exploration of the ethics and motivations of war reporters, and of Keane’s own demons
Journalists are unpopular, as a profession, but war correspondents get a rare pass. In films, books and the wider culture there is a dark glamour, a reckless heroism that attaches to people (mostly men) who head with laptop and camera towards battles that other civilians are fleeing.
Fergal Keane, one of the most celebrated faces of BBC news, embodied that myth. His new book The Madness, part memoir, part meditation, picks it apart. He explores with brutal honesty why he and many colleagues travel to conflict zones in the first place (it is different, of course, for journalists who have war break out on their doorstep), and keep going back when their mental health is fraying.
“Nobody forced me” begins his account of multiple journeys to see first hand the cruel things humans do to each other, from missile strikes to terror attacks and genocide by machete and club. He knew he was risking his mind amid the violence, as well as his life, but couldn’t stay away. That mixture of fear, vanity, inadequacy, driving ambition: this is as familiar to anyone who has spent time with a press pack in a war or at its margins as explosions, checkpoints and guns.
Every day is hard for people with #PTSD. This time of year is usually harder. If you've healed, you remember what it was like to see people "celebrating" when you had a hard time just getting out of bed. It's hard to think of anything beyond living day to day as hope slips away that the next day will be any better. So what happened to you? What helped you heal? Was it a friend helping you find your way? Was it a family member taking the time to listen to you? Was it a stranger there to help you when you finally reached the point when you decided to seek help? Was it something someone wrote, or a video they put up to help you understand you weren't alone?
Being part of a miracle happening is saying "yes" to God. Standing in the way of it is saying "yes" to the darkness the miracle was supposed to defeat. It is that simple.
Christmas is coming and we're supposed to be celebrating the birth of Jesus. Set aside the debate as to when He was actually born and how all the celebrating we do was tied to the winter solstice. I focus on the life He lived, what He achieved, and the simple fact that He was not forced to do it. He had the chance to refuse to do what He was sent to do.
Mary had the chance to refuse to become His mother. Joseph had the chance to refuse to take her as his wife and protect the mother and son. Mary and Joseph could have refused to travel to Egypt to save His life.
When He was grown and went to John the Baptist to be baptized, John had the choice to not believe what his soul was telling him about the man standing in front of him.
When Jesus was fasting for 40 days, He had the choice to allow Satan to corrupt Him.
When He returned to the villages, He asked fishermen to help Him. Each one of them could have refused to do it. The people they asked for help could have refused to help them, as well as refused to listen to what He had to say.
Imagine what would have happened if none of what happened, was able to happen because people said no to becoming part of a miracle.
How many times have you had the chance to be part of a miracle but refused to do it?
How many times have you received a miracle but refused to acknowledge it?
If you live your life only caring about yourself, then you are saying "no" to God. If you live your life doing something for someone else, you are saying "yes" to God. Which way do you think will make you happier?
This Christmas, instead of debating what December 25th means, think about what His life was supposed to mean and do something for someone else. It doesn't have to cost you a dime but may cost you a little time you spend listening to someone, praying for them, or even giving someone clearly having a bad day a smile.
What do the Salem Witchcraft Trials have to do with PTSD? Oddly enough, a lot! When you consider the people at the time who thought they were fighting against evil, they must have also thought the people doing the accusing were on the side of what was good. They had no clue that those making the false accusations had other motives for doing so. Call me Polly Anna but, I have to believe there were good people who got caught up in the conspiracy must have been sick to their stomachs they believed the lies, and innocent people died.
Consider how long it took them to come to their senses and then try to give some justice to those they attacked.
On Thursday, September 22, 1692, Wilmot Redd was brought to the execution site at Proctor’s Ledge in Salem, along with Mary Easty, Martha Corey, Ann Pudeator, Margaret Scott, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, and Samuel Wardwell.
And this is when people tried to clear her name along with others.
In September of 1710, a committee was sent to Salem to look into how to make restitution to the victims of the trials after a number of the surviving accused had filed petitions with the court asking that their names be cleared. For reasons unknown, none of Wilmot Redd’s relatives filed a petition with the committee.
And this is when it finally happened.
On October 31, 2001, the Massachusetts legislature amended the 1957 bill and officially exonerated five victims not named in either the 1711 bill or in the 1957 bill: Wilmot Redd, Bridget Bishop, Alice Parker, Susannah Martin, and Margaret Scott.
On the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials in 1992, the Salem Witch Trials Memorial was built in Salem, Mass and a marker was established for Wilmot Redd.
In 1998, the town of Marblehead placed a cenotaph for Wilmot Redd next to her husband’s grave at Old Burial Hill.
After the site of the Salem Witch Trials, executions was discovered in 2016, the Proctor’s Ledge Memorial was built there the following year and a marker was established for Wilmot Redd.
People with PTSD were falsely accused too when no one knew what it was.
It is thought that many of the accusers during the witchcraft trials suffered from PTSD after they survived attacks from Native Americans.
Then, by the Civil War, the lingering ailments were finally seriously researched. This is from the National Center For PTSD.
Early Attempts at a Medical Diagnosis
Accounts of psychological symptoms following military trauma date back to ancient times. The American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) mark the start of formal medical attempts to address the problems of military Veterans exposed to combat. European descriptions of the psychological impact of railroad accidents also added to early understanding of trauma-related conditions.
Nostalgia, Soldier's Heart, and Railway Spine
Prior to U.S. military efforts, Austrian physician Josef Leopold (1761) wrote about "nostalgia" among soldiers. Among those who were exposed to military trauma, some reported missing home, feeling sad, sleep problems, and anxiety. This description of PTSD-like symptoms was a model of psychological injury that existed into the Civil War.
A second model of this condition suggested a physical injury as the cause of symptoms. "Soldier's heart" or "irritable heart" was marked by a rapid pulse, anxiety, and trouble breathing. U.S. doctor Jacob Mendez Da Costa studied Civil War soldiers with these "cardiac" symptoms and described it as overstimulation of the heart's nervous system, or "Da Costa's Syndrome." Soldiers were often returned to battle after receiving drugs to control symptoms.
And this, they also knew about non-veterans.
The thought that physical injury led to PTSD-like symptoms was supported by European reports of "railway spine." As rail travel became more common, so did railway accidents. Injured passengers who died had autopsies that suggested injury to the central nervous system. Of note, Charles Dickens was involved in a rail accident in 1865 and wrote about symptoms of sleeplessness and anxiety as a result of the trauma.
You can read more about Charles Dickens here. When you think about everything Dickens wrote, it isn't hard to see some of yourself in the characters created by parts of his own inner struggles. Now, imagine being around him and what he must have been acting like. It would have been very easy to make assumptions about him because no one had a clue back then.
Now, we know better, or, at least, are supposed to know better. The fact the general public has no clue what it is like is not so much a reflection of ambivalence, but more, due to the fact reporters won't look beyond what they see at the moment they see it. Events centered around veterans with PTSD bombard them and they go to cover those events. They remain blind to the fact most of the people involved in the events they cover otherwise, do not always "move on" from the story they focus on just long enough to write the article.
I asked a few reporters over the years why they don't cover what happens to the rest of us and they said no one is interested in it. Feeble excuse but it is what it is. It makes me think back to the witchcraft trials and how good people didn't give up on getting some sort of justice. We shouldn't either.
For us, be aware that while you know what PTSD is, too many do not. Try to open their eyes so they see what struggles they have are not new. After researching this article, I'm going to watch A Christmas Carol in a totally different way, because I never made that connection before.
‘Scars for the rest of my life’ victim suffering from PTSD after BK subway attack
PIX11 News
by: Magee Hickey
Posted: Dec 2, 2022
“I don’t think I’ll ever be fully OK. This was a traumatic experience,” the victim told PIX11 News. “I have a few signs of PTSD. So mentally and physically, there’ll be scars on my face for the rest of my life.”
PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS, Brooklyn (PIX11) — A woman who suffered burns to her face after someone threw a chemical substance at her in a Brooklyn subway station spoke out about the attack Friday night, telling PIX11 News she will be scarred for the rest of her life.
“She was aggressive with her words and with her body language,” the 21-year-old victim told PIX11 News.
The victim wants to remain anonymous to protect her safety, but she shared pictures of the severe burns to her face. Police said it happened early Friday morning. The victim was heading to her job at Kings County Hospital. In a video taken by the victim, the suspect splashed an unknown chemical substance on the victim’s face. read more here
When you consider that and understand that PTSD hits survivors, it seems an injustice when you read this headline,
Patients with COVID-19, who also had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were more likely to die or be hospitalized than those without a psychiatric disorder. And for patients with other mental illnesses, the risks were substantially higher.
Yet in the second paragraph, you discover the only patients they considered were veterans.
Researchers from UC San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Health Care System found that veterans with PTSD had an 8 percent increased risk of death if they had COVID and a 9 percent increased risk of hospitalization, compared with patients with the virus and without a psychiatric diagnosis, adjusting for age, sex, race and co-occurring medical conditions.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.
It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to help defend against danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a typical reaction meant to protect a person from harm. Nearly everyone will experience a range of reactions after trauma, yet most people recover from initial symptoms naturally. Those who continue to experience problems may be diagnosed with PTSD. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened, even when they are not in danger.
There was a time, a long time ago, when I focused on just veterans with PTSD. At first, it was because all the reports I read were always about veterans dealing with what they lived through. I survived over ten events just as a civilian, and I had no clue the term applied to me too.
I had no clue what I was dealing with was a "rare form" of PTSD because, for me, the first time, I was only five, and then it was one event after another. The thing that gets me now is, with all that has been learned over the last 40 years or so, how is it that a college still fails to learn that survivors of the events we live through and the need to know we matter too are just as real? Our scars are carried for the rest of our lives too and with help, those scars heal but we won't search for hope if we don't know how many more of us there are.
All of this is also a disservice to veterans because if they understand we get hit by PTSD too from just one event, they will understand just how human they are too!
