When
most Americans hear the words Post Traumatic Stress Disorder they think of soldiers
in Afghanistan. When I hear it that is exactly what comes to mind, but rather in
the form of my oldest brother. What these forms of reception fail to obtain is
that fact that PTSD is not a disorder that comes from across the seas. It is
not something that only males who serve in wars face, in fact the majority of
people that suffer from PTSD are woman. PTSD is a condition that arises because
of traumatic event. Theses event can be anything from an intense accident to
being molested as a child. What really drove this idea home for me was reading
two stories from the ADAA (Anxiety
and Depression Association of America) website. This website contains two stories
from real people that suffer from PTSD, P. K. Philips, and K. Waheed.
Philips story entails what her life
was like after being abused, mentally, physically, and sexually, as a young
child. She talks about how all her life she pulled off making everyone see her
as living the perfect life but was hiding an awful illness. Philips wasn’t diagnosed
until she was 35. Starting at 17 Philips suffered from many signs of PTSD
including, but not limited to, nightmares, flashbacks, and symptoms of OCD (checking
windows and doors repeatedly to assure herself they were locked). Once Philips
had a daughter of her own, symptoms of her PTSD came back in the form of
worrying for her daughter, and not being able to drive because she would forget
who, and/or where she was. It was because of theses relapsing symptoms that
Philips was diagnosed with PTSD, and is now being treated with medicines as well
as behavioral therapy both of which help her in coping with PTSD, but will
never quite heal her fully.
As for Waheed, she was also abused
(sexually, mentally, and physically) as a child, and didn’t receive her PTSD
diagnosis until a latter age, 25 in this case. Before being diagnosed with
PTSD, Waheed tried coping with the flashbacks and pain of her traumatic
childhood through alcohol and other drugs, but was able to clean up her life
after being diagnosed through the help of family and friends along with AA
groups. The main point I took away from Waheed’s story was the fact that her
PTSD symptoms never went away. She still has flashbacks throughout her everyday
life, some are better than others, but she has found a way to live with them.
At one point in her story Waheed states that through hard work and therapy she
gets to “just ‘be.’ To get to be a human being and not just a human doing – it’s
been wonderfully empowering.” It was through these lines that I see hope for
people suffering from PTSD, and hope for a future that PTSD can be “cured.”
What I see as important in these
stories is that the two women weren’t overseas. They were in American living their
lives when traumatic things happened to them. Then they had to suffer the symptoms
of PTSD and wait years before being diagnosed with it. This fact made me wonder
if the stigma of PTSD being something only soldiers face has hurt the community
in a way that we won’t address that someone could be a victim of PTSD even if
they have lived here all their lives. To go on after reading these stories I
hope to be willing to listen to people and see that the issue might be happing
in my own back yard, and that a “normal person” I know might be facing PTSD.
Bibliography
Philips, P. K. "My Story of Survival: Battling PTSD | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA." My Story of Survival: Battling PTSD | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
Waheed, K. "Honoring the Person I Am | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA." Honoring the Person I Am | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
