Invisible Scars

"The Korean War (1950-53), was a ferocious and brutal conflict that produced over four million casualties in the span of three short years. Despite this, it remains relatively absent from most accounts of mental health and war trauma. Invisible Scars provides the first extended exploration of Commonwealth Division psychiatry during the Korean War and examines the psychiatric care systems in place for the thousands of soldiers who fought in that conflict. Fitzpatrick demonstrates that although Commonwealth forces were generally successful in returning psychologically traumatized servicemen to duty and fostering good morale, they failed to compensate or support in a meaningful way veterans returning to civilian life. Moreover, ignorance at home contributed to widespread misunderstanding of their condition, and veterans were often deprived of public space in which to grieve. This book offers an intimate look into the history of psychological trauma and assesses the impact of the Korean War on the development of military psychiatry. In addition, it engages with current disability, pensions and compensation issues that remain hotly contested and reflects on the power of commemoration in the healing process."--

Invisible Scars provides the first extended exploration of Commonwealth Division psychiatry during the Korean War and the psychiatric-care systems in place for the thousands of soldiers who fought in that conflict. Fitzpatrick demonstrates that although Commonwealth forces were generally successful in returning psychologically traumatized servicemen to duty, they failed to compensate or support in a meaningful way veterans returning to civilian life. Moreover, ignorance at home contributed to widespread misunderstanding of their condition. This book offers an intimate look into the history of psychological trauma. In addition, it engages with current disability, pensions, and compensation issues that remain hotly contested.

Like the best of memoir writing, My Invisible Scars is alternately brutally honest, sad, triumphant, tense, motivating, uncomfortable, and unforgettable. Relying on journals that she has kept since childhood, Canadian author Willa-Mae E. Scot articulately recounts in (mostly) chronological order the highs and lows of her long life, beginning with her early childhood in a small Saskatchewan town. Willa-Mae writes candidly about terrible disappointments, life-threatening ordeals, and her incredible and unwavering determination to put aside countless negative experiences, and live, embrace, and enjoy life to the fullest. This memoir is a must-read book for anyone whose life has been derailed by the unexpected loss of a loved one, violence, family break-up, infidelity, addictions, abandonment, or by poor, sometimes non-existent, choices. Those who have suffered through trauma and struggled to put that trauma behind them will see their journey reflected in these pages and be reassured that, even when down at rock bottom, they can find a way to be happy again. My Invisible Scars is instructive and inspiring, enlightening and engaging, and a great testament to its author’s tremendous courage and forthrightness. Most of all it is a testament to her enviable ability to offer forgiveness to the many people who have hurt her, and then gracefully move forward in life.

During these harrowing times of social and economic turbulence, romantic relationships are often prone to issues of control and power plays between two partners. Perhaps one makes more money than the other, feels as though he or she does more around the house in terms of chores and duties or carries the emotional load of the relationship more than his or her partner. Otherwise resolvable problems such as these can be, in many cases, catalysts for a form of abuse that might not leave the victim with any visible cuts and bruises but is damaging and hurtful.

In this tell all book, Dr. Billings chronicles the VA & the Military's decision to use brain/mind altering medications for residual effects of combat stress, why they do it, the effects on veterans/soldiers, and how new integrative treatment programs are helping vets return to normal, healthy lives, without brain/mind altering psych medications.

If you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic event, you know the devastating impact it can have on your life and your spirit. Life-threatening accidents, illnesses, assaults, abusive relationships—or a tragedy like 9/11—all can leave deep emotional wounds that persist long after physical scars have healed. Survivors become “invisible heroes,” courageously struggling to lead normal lives in spite of symptoms so baffling and disturbing that they sometimes doubt their own sanity. Now there is new hope for the millions affected by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Drawing on more than thirty years’ experience as a therapist and on the most recent cutting-edge research, Belleruth Naparstek presents a clinically proven program for recovery using the potent tool of guided imagery. She reveals how guided imagery goes straight to the right side of the brain, where it impacts the nonverbal wiring of the nervous system itself, the key to alleviating suffering. Filled with the voices of real trauma survivors and therapists whose lives and work have been changed by this approach, Invisible Heroes offers: • New understanding of the physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects of PTSD, who is most susceptible, and why symptoms can get worse rather than better with time • Important insights into how the brain and body respond to trauma, why conventional talk therapy can actually impede recovery, and why the nonverbal, image-based right brain is crucial to healing • A step-by-step program with more than twenty scripts for guided-imagery exercises tailored to the three stages of recovery, from immediate relief of anxiety attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, and insomnia, to freedom from depression and isolation, to renewed engagement with life • A helpful guide to the best of the new imagery-based therapies, and how to incorporate them into an overall recovery plan Belleruth Naparstek concludes with the inspiring words of survivors who have found their way back to peace, purpose, and a deep joy in living. Her compassionate, groundbreaking book can lead you and those in your care to the same renewal and healing.

“An unforgettable look at the peculiar horrors and humiliations involved in solitary confinement” from the prisoners who have survived it (New York Review of Books). On any given day, the United States holds more than eighty-thousand people in solitary confinement, a punishment that—beyond fifteen days—has been denounced as a form of cruel and degrading treatment by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Now, in a book that will add a startling new dimension to the debates around human rights and prison reform, former and current prisoners describe the devastating effects of isolation on their minds and bodies, the solidarity expressed between individuals who live side by side for years without ever meeting one another face to face, the ever-present specters of madness and suicide, and the struggle to maintain hope and humanity. As Chelsea Manning wrote from her own solitary confinement cell, “The personal accounts by prisoners are some of the most disturbing that I have ever read.” These firsthand accounts are supplemented by the writing of noted experts, exploring the psychological, legal, ethical, and political dimensions of solitary confinement. “Do we really think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in tiny cells for twenty-three hours a day, for months, sometimes for years at a time? That is not going to make us safer. That’s not going to make us stronger.” —President Barack Obama “Elegant but harrowing.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A potent cry of anguish from men and women buried way down in the hole.” —Kirkus Reviews

A riveting memoir about moral injury and a veteran's struggle with participation in an immoral war. The development of a moral code is traced from a Chicago neighborhood, through seminary and ultimately to the circuitous journey to ordained ministry. This is a narrative about faith and healing that is a compelling story that has broad appeal.