It’s hard to believe that we are already in June! June marks the beginning of summer, the days are warm and the sun is out longer, but some may not know that June is also PTSD Awareness Month.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health disorder that occurs after a traumatic event. PTSD is diagnosed by a mental health provider. An individual may display symptoms of PTSD right after the traumatic event or even an year later. Symptoms include: reliving the event, avoidance of situations that are a reminder of the traumatic event, negative thoughts and feelings than before the event, and feeling on edge or jittery (always alert) (VA, 2022).
Veterans and those affected by war are the first thought when most people think of PTSD, but that’s not always the case. PTSD can develop at any point in someone’s life, after a traumatic event, and the chances can be increased by many factors (gender, prior trauma exposure, age, etc.).
Experiencing trauma is not rare, according to the Veterans Affairs (VA), as they report that 60% of men and 50% of women experience at least one trauma in their lives (VA, 2022). The VA also reports that 6 out of every 100 people will have PTSD at some point in their lives, and 12 million adults in the United States have PTSD during a given year (2022).
The VA has great information on how you can be active in spreading awareness on their website, https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/awareness/promo_materials.asp. The Library can offer you resources on understanding PTSD with the following titles:
The End of Mental Illness by Daniel Amen
Though incidence of these conditions is skyrocketing, for the past four decades standard treatment hasn’t much changed, and success rates in treating them have barely improved, either. Meanwhile, the stigma of the “mental illness” label–damaging and devastating on its own–can often prevent sufferers from getting the help they need.Brain specialist and bestselling author Dr. Daniel Amen is on the forefront of a new movement within medicine and related disciplines that aims to change all that. In The End of Mental Illness, Dr. Amen draws on the latest findings of neuroscience to challenge an outdated psychiatric paradigm and help readers take control and improve the health of their own brain, minimizing or reversing conditions that may be preventing them from living a full and emotionally healthy life. The End of Mental Illness will help you discover:
- Why labeling someone as having a “mental illness” is not only inaccurate but harmful
- Why standard treatment may not have helped you or a loved one–and why diagnosing and treating you based on your symptoms alone so often misses the true cause of those symptoms and results in poor outcomes
- At least 100 simple things you can do yourself to heal your brain and prevent or reverse the problems that are making you feel sad, mad, or bad
- How to identify your “brain type” and what you can do to optimize your particular type
- Where to find the kind of health provider who understands and uses the new paradigm of brain health
Irritable Hearts : a PTSD Love Story by Mac McClelland
When thirty-year-old, award-winning human rights journalist Mac McClelland left Haiti after reporting on the devastating earthquake of 2010, she never imagined how the assignment would irrevocably affect her own life. Back home in California, McClelland cannot stop reliving vivid scenes of violence. She is plagued by waking terrors, violent fantasies, and crippling emotional breakdowns. She can’t sleep or stop crying. Her life in shambles, it becomes clear that she is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Her bewilderment about this sudden loss of control is magnified by the intensity of her feelings for Nico, a French soldier she met in Port-au-Prince and with whom she connected instantly and deeply.With inspiring fearlessness, McClelland tackles perhaps her most harrowing assignment to date: investigating the damage in her own mind and repairing her broken psyche. She begins to probe the depths of her illness, exploring our culture’s history with PTSD, delving into the latest research by the country’s top scientists and therapists, and spending time with veterans and their families.
If you’ve experienced trauma or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the world can seem like a very frightening place. You may even question your own deeply held beliefs, as well as the motives of others. It’s important for you to know that you aren’t alone, and there isn’t anything wrong with you. Many teens have suffered traumatic events, and there are solid skills you can learn that will help you recover. So, how can you begin healing and start building the life you were always meant to lead?
In this compassionate guide, you’ll find skills based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you tackle anxiety and harmful avoidance behaviors; manage negative emotions; cope with flashbacks and nightmares; and develop trusting, healthy relationships–even if your trust in others has been shaken to the core. You’ll also learn more about the diagnosis and symptoms of PTSD and understand what kind of help is available to you.
Whether you’ve been diagnosed with PTSD or are simply living with the aftereffects of a traumatic event, you shouldn’t have to suffer alone. This book will help you to find strength within so you can move forward.
This book provides a synopsis of recently published empirical research into the acquisition of reading and writing in Arabic. Its particular focus is on the interplay between the linguistic and orthographic structure of Arabic and the development of reading and writing/spelling. In addition, the book addresses the socio-cultural, political and educational milieu in which Arabic literacy is embedded. It enables readers to appreciate both the implications of empirical research to literacy enhancement and the challenges and limitations to the applicability of such insights in the Arabic language and literacy context. The book will advance the understanding of the full context of literacy acquisition in Arabic with the very many factors (religious, historical, linguistic etc.) that interact and will hence contribute to weakening the anglocentricity that dominates discussions of this topic.
If you are facing a mental health challenge, know that you are not alone.
Mental Health America, formerly known as the National Mental Health Association, has great tools for information, resources, and free screenings for mental health. Visit https://screening.mhanational.org/ for more information.
If you or someone you know is in an emergency, call 911.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you don’t feel comfortable talking on the phone, you can text NAMI to 741741 to be connected to a trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (March 23, 2022). PTSD Basics. National Center for PTSD. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/ptsd_basics.asp
