It was in the news again recently here, in the Great White North. The Canadian military redeployed soldiers with PTSD back to the places that made them sick. At least, that’s how the headlines ran, the truth was slightly different but hey, who doesn’t want to sensationalise how stupid it is to give a gun to someone who’s unwell?
This set me to thinking how cross I get whenever an episode of Criminal Minds or some such leads us to believe that PTSD turns people into killers, running amuck reliving their trauma from Afghanistan on the streets of Niceville. Trauma, PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is another one of those misunderstood dramatic devices that really, no really, upsets those who know when writers get it wrong. Continue reading “Getting it Right: Trauma”
Not, not the comic book hero or the nervous twitch kind of tic – I’m talking about those gross, disgusting, horrendous little bugs that should be eradicated from this planet. The pictures of swollen ticks were just way too disturbing to post here, so I went with the 20th anniversary edition of the comic book. It is, in fact more attractive than a swollen tick. Google it if you don’t believe me.
Sixty-one year old Paul Chastain is shoveling snow out on his front walk. The wind is biting cold. The snow is heavy and damp.