Stories That Heal

Based on accounts of his life, he did. So did C.S. Lewis and the other inklings; it's all through their work too. They buried some very intense stuff even in the books they wrote for children.

You have, and it sounds like you render it well.

Mine, gosh, there are a lot of them. Path of the Paladins and Tripping into the Future have it as a series-wide theme.

That's useful to know.

>> More than one warrior I know has taken up the keyboard and written his own story.... You have a copy of one such volume. However, I see the value in the old plays... it tells our present-day veterans "hey, this is not new, it's been going on for thousands of years, it's not just you, and it's nothing to be ashamed of." <<

The two things serve different purposes. Individual memoirs are about witnessing and remembering; they're written mostly by people who are not professional writers. Plays, stories, and other literature are about personal and cultural processing; they're written mostly by professional entertainers who know how to take the personal and make it speak to the masses.

>> When my grandfather's unit was mustered out, they put him on a troopship with his buddies. It took them a couple of weeks to get home. During that time they had time to decompress, to be in a controlled, safe environment with people who had Been There and Done That and Understood the horrors .... not just of Normandy, which despite the chaos wasn't as bad as it could be for the Airborne corps of which he was a part, but of Bastogne, which *didn't*... <<

That was probably a lot more useful than the "exit counseling" some soldiers get now. People need time not just to decompress from what has happened, but to reconfigure themselves for what will happen when they return to civilian life.

>> I never heard anyone say that Grandpa had any problems after that voyage home. He never *spoke* of Bastogne to *anyone*; the only way we knew he was there was the presence of a second oak leaf on the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon in his effects; history records that only two were given to 506th PIR, and that one had to be with the unit in question at the time for which the citation is given. <<

Wow. *salute*

>> I can't say as I blame him for not sharing with us. I am grateful he got the time to share with his buddies, and process it. <<

Sooth.

>> Perhaps these ... oooooh. I remember a term from my study of classic plays: catharsis. This is the entire point of many of these plays, to evoke that feeling of "there but for the gods go I" in the audience. <<

Yes, most of the Greco-Roman stuff was like that.

>> I also remember that Seneca wrote that the *best* achievement of catharsis was when the hero was aware of what he was doing, goes right to the brink of committing horror... and stops. <<

Fascinating! I must remember that. It touches on something I want to explore with Damask later.

>> I get it now. Not only has PTSD been going on for thousands of years, but the writing of myths to help the people cope, *deliberately* evoking emotion and relief.... has been going on for thousands of years.

This... is just kickin' it *old school*. <<

Yea, verily. That's why I wanted to boost the signal on this.

>> What is frustrating is that if you do an online search for PTSD support for your area, what comes up is stuff for military veterans and survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence. <<

Those are the best known, most common causes so it is often possible to collect enough people for a support group. More recently awareness has been rising for complex PTSD from school or workplace bullying, and acute PTSD from things like traffic accidents or tornadoes.

>> I don't even know if they would help me if I called after a triggered incident due to PTSD that exists for a different reason. Time to read this article, I think. <<

For PTSD of other causes, you can:

* Look for a generic PTSD support group. Ironically this is one area where small towns do better, because they may not have enough of any one group, meaning the veterans, battered spouses, and everyone else wind up together.

* Call the specific-cause group, tell them your cause, and ask if they know of support groups or counselors that are generic or have experience in your version. People who work with PTSD usually know who else is doing so and can make referrals based on client needs.

* Research online and print resources. Plenty has been written on PTSD and while much of it is targeted, a lot is generic. The targeted resources may touch on your cause if you look hard enough to find the right ones. Try searching "PTSD and (your cause)" to get matches.

>> My Guides in spirit keep telling me I have "Solders' Syndrome", which is a form of post-traumatic stress (PTSD is many different problems, often grouped together) that occurs when one separates oneself from others in order to fight them. <<

Yes, that can happen.

>> The more you Other and Enemy someone else, the more personal separation you acquire from yourself; unfortunately, this is necessary in order to protect oneself in dangerous situations. You can't go around trusting someone you know will hurt you. <<

Which is a problem throughout society, too.

>> And apparently the only cure is reconnection. <<

Not necessarily the only one, but certainly among the most direct and effective. Some tribes have had ceremonies for this purpose; basically they move their warriors out of and then back into everyday society.

>> So having someone sit there and talk AT you doesn't work. <<

That's a problem with any other condition characterized by isolation, such as depression and social anxiety. The clinical detachment mandated by the mental health care system makes it useless for some people and some complaints, and the monopoly makes it almost impossible to get any other kind of care.

>> Small, separate groups too focused on the problem to talk about everyday things don't work. But finding friendships and having trustworthy friends DOES. <<

Some people find support groups helpful for reconnection, others don't.

>> Doing ordinary things with others DOES. Being able to know that someone is there when you're having a bad day DOES. Having someone you don't have to pretend at HELPS. <<

Agreed.

>> And isolated societies like the modern US (and Victorian Britain, and so on and so forth) are killing people like me, and every one of our warriors, because society at large doesn't care to connect with us as we are. <<

Yes, that's true. And it's not okay to treat people like kleenex.