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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly recognised as a war veterans disease but equally experienced by victims of domestic abuse and indeed by anybody who has experienced perpetual high-level stress to such an extent that it penetrates the deepest level of the human psyche until it meshes with the fabric of the sufferers consciousness to create severe psychological and physical impact.
This condition is believed to have been the cause of the death of one of Australia's Afghanistan veterans, a decorated squad Captain, who recently perished in the elements on a lonely frozen mountain in up-state New York.
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-17/us-authorities-find-body-of-australian-soldier/5204320
My Aunt gave me an old letter home from my Grandfather dated 1923 while he was hunting in the Tyrol area of Austria. He spent years wandering Europe after the War and we don't really know what he was doing for about 6 years of that time. I suspect, like this young Captain, he was trying to work through the ongoing psychological trauma of the years he spent in the trenches in France, having been shot and blown up three times between '15 and '17 and seen his mates and opponents injured and killed on a daily basis for weeks at a time. Given that this year is the centenary of that first true experience of war on a vast regional scale, I thought to start a thread on the topic of PTSD so we can review what we've learned of the condition since then.
I've been reading "Exit Wounds" by Major-General John Cantwell and I'm struck by the capacity of humans to endure so much unimagineable internal psychological pain without disclosing major signs until they melt down completely often with devastating consequences for those close to them or merely near them. According the General Cantwell (who has and continues to suffer PTSD after combat duty in Gulf 1 and operational command in Iraq and Afghanistan), a majority of soldiers coming out of combat situations suffer this condition and are very closely debriefed on their experiences and helped to overcome the worst of the psychological damage before reconnecting fully with the civilian community. However, how often do everyday boys and girls carry this trauma from years of abuse into their teen years and adult lives, all the time hiding their deep emotional pain? So few are ever treated at all. I wonder how much of the vicious crime we see becomming endemic such as school shootings in the US and general street violence everywhere arises out of an undiagnosed PTSD root. The trauma itself seems to be a replicating entity in some ways, as untreated PTSD sufferers can work their pain out in explosive fits of rage on others, or perpetuating abuse by visiting it on their own kids, and such repetition of these kinds of events spawn the next generation of the violence. PTSD may claim more victims than are ascribed to it as it can take years, even decades for deep trauma to surface. Heaven help those who have it, especially if they don't understand that they have it. Is there a way we can emerge socially from the cyclic effects of this severe and often misunderstood condition?
WARNING: This is not a touchy feely subject, so if you've had experiences of your own or your associates' trauma, and wish to post about them be aware that other readers may be prone to misinterpret information and responses are not always sensitive. Consider the effect of posters mishandling your inner experiences well before you commit to a message.
This condition is believed to have been the cause of the death of one of Australia's Afghanistan veterans, a decorated squad Captain, who recently perished in the elements on a lonely frozen mountain in up-state New York.
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-17/us-authorities-find-body-of-australian-soldier/5204320
My Aunt gave me an old letter home from my Grandfather dated 1923 while he was hunting in the Tyrol area of Austria. He spent years wandering Europe after the War and we don't really know what he was doing for about 6 years of that time. I suspect, like this young Captain, he was trying to work through the ongoing psychological trauma of the years he spent in the trenches in France, having been shot and blown up three times between '15 and '17 and seen his mates and opponents injured and killed on a daily basis for weeks at a time. Given that this year is the centenary of that first true experience of war on a vast regional scale, I thought to start a thread on the topic of PTSD so we can review what we've learned of the condition since then.
I've been reading "Exit Wounds" by Major-General John Cantwell and I'm struck by the capacity of humans to endure so much unimagineable internal psychological pain without disclosing major signs until they melt down completely often with devastating consequences for those close to them or merely near them. According the General Cantwell (who has and continues to suffer PTSD after combat duty in Gulf 1 and operational command in Iraq and Afghanistan), a majority of soldiers coming out of combat situations suffer this condition and are very closely debriefed on their experiences and helped to overcome the worst of the psychological damage before reconnecting fully with the civilian community. However, how often do everyday boys and girls carry this trauma from years of abuse into their teen years and adult lives, all the time hiding their deep emotional pain? So few are ever treated at all. I wonder how much of the vicious crime we see becomming endemic such as school shootings in the US and general street violence everywhere arises out of an undiagnosed PTSD root. The trauma itself seems to be a replicating entity in some ways, as untreated PTSD sufferers can work their pain out in explosive fits of rage on others, or perpetuating abuse by visiting it on their own kids, and such repetition of these kinds of events spawn the next generation of the violence. PTSD may claim more victims than are ascribed to it as it can take years, even decades for deep trauma to surface. Heaven help those who have it, especially if they don't understand that they have it. Is there a way we can emerge socially from the cyclic effects of this severe and often misunderstood condition?
WARNING: This is not a touchy feely subject, so if you've had experiences of your own or your associates' trauma, and wish to post about them be aware that other readers may be prone to misinterpret information and responses are not always sensitive. Consider the effect of posters mishandling your inner experiences well before you commit to a message.