For awhile I stepped away from this blog because I’d been focusing my efforts on a short story (that has now become a novella as it becomes much too long for a short story and has still only just entered the second act). But I have missed it here. There have been many things I’d … Continue reading Life After PTSD?
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Why I Say People Are Good
How can we explain the physical and emotional damage one person can do to another let alone to an entire people as we’ve done in our past as a species, and then still fit it into this framework of a preset nature imprinted into our genes?
The Core of You
Had the person I was been deleted and written over by this callous, often angry man, who hid in his house drinking too much when not wearing a uniform and being an asshole to the world at large?
War Stories
Nobody will ever be able to understand the specific stories you tell like you can, not even me, because none of us has seen it through your eyes, but those of us who’ve felt the same fear, the same moral injuries, or the same sudden losses and threats to our own mortality like you have don’t need to.
Common Misconceptions About PTSD Part II
The reason there’s so much stigma surrounding most mental health issues is that people who’ve never dealt with it themselves cannot understand it like they could a heart attack, or the loss of a limb, even though they may never have personally experienced those, either.
The Linus Equation
Having a Linus’ blanket of your own does not mean you’re childish or weak, any more than it means your sister is a narcissistic sociopath who’s going to pull the football away every time your best friend tries to kick it.
The Nature of Beauty & Insecurity
This is, very frankly, what I was trying to say originally in The Nature of Beauty.
Common Misconceptions About PTSD
There is a false assumption that someone suffering this, or again any mental health issue, will show it on their face like a rash (that spells “nutbar” across their forehead, maybe?) or in their general, casually observed behaviour.
Self-Stigmatization
We carry our own stigmas with us and apply them even as we feel their sting and reel away from it. We are our own, sharpest, pointy sticks of doom.
Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Meds
We are each unique individuals with unique needs and unique problems. Not every medication will work quite the same way for all of us and may have effects greater or smaller, better or worse, than others.
Patrick Riley 