For those who have never been pregnant it is difficult to imagine labor pains. To them whose own lives have been untarnished
with sights and smells of death, it is hard to fathom waking up two decades later experiencing the pain all over again.
Post Tramautic Stress Disorder is not just restricted to veterans serving on foreign shores. To most people they should put it behind them. Unfortunately for far too many it is still
yesterday too many sleepless nights. Having been there and walked through the dark hallways of my memories I can have empathy for those people. Yet another source of PTSD is abuse at the hands of loved ones.
Merely because a child or spouse has moved on in their lives on the Outside does not always mean they are healed on the inside. The adult women suffering the anger of a drunken husband has endured a battlefield in her own home. Sadly children are often forced to witness the events and carry that
memory into their adulthood.
Rather than saying " that was then and now is now" trying to understand is the key. One does not have to walk in the shoes of the sufferer. Just by glancing into their eyes does the sad little girl appear. Hidden deep behind those pretty green eyes lives a victim crying out. Maybe if more people delved into their own past and found one minute a painful memory and how they felt would compassion come more easily.
Walking in the shadows of yesterday prevents one from living in today. Spending so much time in that bubble leads to damaged relationships, suicide, and even worse. Drugs and alcohol help to cope. Putting up walls keeps bad things from happening all over again.
There is already too much anguish to deal with. There is already enough pressure on people to exist in an choatic world. What they don't need is demons from yesterday holding them back.
Will we find an answer to cure PTSD? As long as bad things happen to good people, some of those persons will lock those events in the back of their minds. Let's help them now.