As I look back on my years in the mental health field, it is no wonder that the majority of my clients had a history of traumatization. The ones who sought help were those with the most significant experiences though, surprisingly, some did not relate their “presenting problem” with those experiences. Part of my job was to help them connect the dots and revisit those events so that they might have the opportunity to move forward.

The majority of “traumatic events” are universal – such as victimization, serious accidents, natural disasters, or even witnessing violence or tragedy. However, due to a number of factors, the degree to which one is “traumatized” varies – including age, prior experiences, level of sensitivity, length and intensity of exposure, degree to which one’s life was effected, amount and level of support following the incident, etc.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD first appeared in the third edition of Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in the mid-eighties, primarily prompted by comparable symptoms reported by Vietnam veterans, but the symptoms were recorded by Hippocrates, a Greek Physician, in the 1st century. Symptoms include intense psychological and physiological reactivity at exposure to internal or external cues to prior event as well as episodes of acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were reoccurring (illusions, hallucinations, dissociative flashbacks) and intrusive distressing recollections. Symptoms frequently include changes in mood and behavior, sleep difficulties, and struggles with addiction.

Under warfare conditions, veterans experience extended exposure to “trauma” (defined as “experiencing, witnessing, or confronted with event/s that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others” DSM) and are therefore highly vulnerable to its disturbing effects. Herein lies the heart of the matter: from birth, our brains process every experience, and we learn how to respond in ways that keep our world safe and manageable and maintain our sanity. Under conditions of war, where threats of violence are continuous with limited time to process and recover, horrifying memories are stored until they are eventually released and relived.

Before PTSD was defined and accepted as a reasonable reaction to the terrors of combat, returning vets were not always treated with sympathy, but rather as if there was some deficiency, either psychologically or physically, within the men themselves, and referred to as “shell shock”, “combat fatigue”, “battle exhaustion,”or even “war neurosis.”

However, even with the help available through the VA and mental health facilities, many veterans continue to fall through the cracks, particularly those whose personal lives could not provide the stability to re-assimilate. Our communities are full of homeless veterans, some physically as well as mentally wounded, who, but for the mercy of God, are at risk of dying on the street.

You may be wondering why I’m writing about this, and the short answer is that my heart breaks for them . . . and the therapist part of me still seeks to understand the torment in their memories. I know Vietnam vets who, fifty years later, still can’t talk about those memories.

It’s through my stories that I vicariously attempt to gain a deeper understanding, and perhaps sensitize my readers as well. My trilogy Blest Be the Ties was very painful to write as I tried to put myself in Davy’s and Edmund’s minds and live their experiences. And I have written two other novels (yet unpublished) that also involve veterans of war who are seeking to find peace and sanity.

Ultimately, the only true source of that peace and sanity is the Lord Himself – as David the shepherd boy who became a warrior called Him – his shield, his fortress, his rock, his refuge, his strength, his hiding place, his deliverer, his salvation.