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Summary
Summary
The chances of service members developing PTSD after military-related traumas is, according to a U.S. study, at least 30 percent. The effects of PTSD can be devastating, ranging, for example, from distressing flashbacks, nightmares, sleep disorders, physical symptoms, irritability, aggressions, memory and concentration problems. These symptoms often cause severe impairment in all areas of life and may lead to despair and hopelessness. PTSD is neither a localized nor a temporary problem. Here, Leah Wizelman relates the true stories of service members from different service branches and ranks from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Germany, who were participants in various wars (Vietnam, Gulf war, Iraq, Afghanistan, Grenada) and peace missions (Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, Cambodia, Somalia, Cyprus, Haiti). They talk openly about their lives after trauma and share their fates with the reader. Spouses of affected military members also tell their stories. They talk about the challenges loved ones face when living with a partner with PTSD, how it affects their children, and how they manage to cope. As these stories show all too vividly, military-related PTSD has not been dealt with effectively or with enough empathy or sympathy. Those affected by PTSD will realize that they are not alone in their suffering, and others will gain insight into the realities of this challenging mental disorder.ing with a partner with PTSD, how it affects their children, and how they manage to cope. As these stories show all too vividly, military-related PTSD has not been dealt with effectively or with enough empathy or sympathy. Those affected by PTSD will realize that they are not alone in their suffering, and others will gain insight into the realities of this challenging mental disorder.ing with a partner with PTSD, how it affects their children, and how they manage to cope. As these stories show all too vividly, military-related PTSD has not been dealt with effectively or with enough empathy or sympathy. Those affected by PTSD will realize that they are not alone in their suffering, and others will gain insight into the realities of this challenging mental disorder.ing with a partner with PTSD, how it affects their children, and how they manage to cope. As these stories show all too vividly, military-related PTSD has not been dealt with effectively or with enough empathy or sympathy. Those affected by PTSD will realize that they are not alone in their suffering, and others will gain insight into the realities of this challenging mental disorder.
Author Notes
Leah Wizelman is a biologist and researcher at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, on psycho-physiological aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder at the Institute of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy in the Faculty of Medicine.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Depressing but important, this book spells out the facts about post-traumatic stress disorder by mainly letting its victims and their families tell their stories. Many of the war veterans give up their hobbies and isolate themselves, many turn to alcohol, many take multiple pills (one Vietnam survivor is still on 16 medications), many are paranoid (one Iraq survivor dug foxholes in his garden and built an observation post in a tree in his yard). Marriages suffer. One woman divorced her husband, who oversaw body exchanges of the two sides' dead, because he constantly yelled at her and their kids. Wizelman, a German biologist and PTSD researcher, explains that the condition first appeared in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980 but actually dates back thousands of years. Homer, she says, described the symptoms in the Iliad in 4000 B.C. These moving but almost universally disheartening stories show that treatment can help but is no panacea.--Springen, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
Choice Review
This book "portrays touching stories of current and former service members with PTSD," according to the preface. The text was written for those affected by PTSD, their families and friends, and the general public. Wizelman (biology, Technical Univ. of Munich, Germany) encourages readers to experience PTSD through the eyes of deployed soldiers who took part in dangerous missions and experienced horrible events. Of the 32 stories, about 22 were of veterans who still suffer from PTSD symptoms despite years of therapy. Of the ten somewhat positive stories, none described recovery from PTSD. Instead, stories titled "My Life Has Been Ruined," "Every Day Is a Struggle," "PTSD Has Totally Robbed Me of the Man I Married," or "Nothing Will Ever be the Same," suggest that PTSD is a chronic disorder and that veterans must learn to cope with a lifetime of debilitating symptoms. From reading this book, veterans or their families may wrongly believe that "the war never ends." A US Army (Iraq combat) veteran in treatment for severe PTSD made an insightful comment that "this book is wrong, it takes away a soldier's hope." Summing Up: Not recommended. R. I. Hooper Department of Veteran's Affairs
Table of Contents
Foreword | p. xi |
Preface | p. xvii |
An Introduction to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder | p. 1 |
Stories from PTSD Sufferers and Their Families | |
I Could Have Beenthe Poster Child for PTSD (U.S.Air Force) | p. 11 |
Part of Him just Didn't Come Home (US. Army Spouse) | p. 15 |
Living with PTSD Has Become a Bearable Reality (Royal Canadian Army) | p. 24 |
I Look at life Differently Now (German Army) | p. 33 |
A Part of Me Died That Night (US. Army) | p. 44 |
I Believed I Did Not Have a Problem (Royal Australian Air Force/Army) | p. 49 |
He Thought I Was Telling Him He Was Crazy (US.Army Spouse) | p. 53 |
I'll Never Be What I Was Before (Royal Canadian Navy) | p. 59 |
People Ask Me! Where My Smile Went (U.S. Marine Corps) | p. 67 |
We Walked Around on Eggshells (Royal Canadian Army Girlfriend) | p. 70 |
My Life Has Been Ruined (Royal Australian Air Force) | p. 74 |
Many Thought His PTSD Was Bullshit (Royal Australian Air Force Spouse of the Above) | p. 78 |
At Some Point, the Soul Forms a Shield (German Army) | p. 82 |
I Long to Be Who I Was (U.S. Army) | p. 89 |
Had Planned to Have Myself Shot (Royal Canadian! Army) | p. 98 |
Every Day Is a Struggle (U.S. Navy/Army Spouse) | p. 102 |
Behind Locked Doors and with a Barbed Wire over the Fence (Royal Australian Army) | p. 111 |
I Am Learning Not to Take!It Personally When He Pushes Me Aujay (U.S. Army Spouse) | p. 115 |
I Attempted Nine Suicides (Royal Canadian Army) | p. 122 |
I Was Certain I Was Going;Crazy (U.S. Navy) | p. 126 |
One Owns Up to It Relatively Late (German Army) | p. 134 |
Ptsd HasTotally Robbed Me of the Man I Married (Royal Canadian Army Spouse) | p. 140 |
I Feel Guilty for Everything (U.S. Army) | p. 146 |
For Me, the War Is Still On (German Army) | p. 151 |
Will Ever Be the Same (U.S. Army) | p. 161 |
I'm Looking Forward to My Future (Royal Canadian Army) | p. 164 |
All I Want Is Acceptance (U.S. Army) | p. 171 |
I Want People to Know That There Is Hope (U.S. Army Spouse of the Above) | p. 175 |
It Was Always My Fault (Royal Canadian Army Spouse) | p. 181 |
I Have Made My Peace with It (Royal Canadian Navy) | p. 189 |
Scars and Memories Will Remain in My Soul (German Army) | p. 201 |
You Think You Are the Only One (Royal Canadian Army) | p. 208 |
Glossary | p. 215 |
Recommended Reading List | p. 219 |
Acknowledgments | p. 223 |
About the Author | p. 225 |