Well done, Joseph. Thank you for your support. ~Eleanor On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:18 AM, Joseph Psotka <psotka@msn.com> wrote: > > > > Survivor Trauma, Fear, > lifelong anxiety, depression, shame, PTSD, and Genocide > > > If the Shwovish internment > occurred today, it would be followed by massive counseling and > psychological > interventions to prevent all the well known consequences of fear and > helplessness > > > An examination of > approximately 5,000 long-term psychiatric inpatients in Israel identified > about > 900 Holocaust survivors, and extraordinarily large number. How many > Shwovish survivors of the camps have > unnecessarily suffered nightmares, panic > attacks, depression, and even more serious psychological psychoses is > unknown > but certain to exist in large numbers. > My own family bears the scars of witness. These patients were not > treated as unique: trauma-related illnesses were neglected in diagnosis > and in decades-long > treatment. I hypothesize that many of these patients could have avoided > lengthy if not life-long psychiatric hospitalizations, had they been able > or > enabled by their treaters and by society at large to more openly share > their > severe persecution history. > > > The importance of > re-living these traumatic events and sharing them with sympathetic others > is a > cornerstone of modern therapeutic processes. > A therapeutic intervention such as video testimony or simply writing a > blog of the experience is a step forward > that helps build a narrative for the traumatic experience and gives it a > coherent expression that helps in > alleviating its symptoms and changing its course. > > > > > > Of course those of us > who survived the camps had no such help, and worse still emigrated to > countries > like Austria and Germany that were largely destroyed and suffering greatly > from > the war. Those unlucky enough not to > escape the camps were forced into additional forced labor for three more > years > before they could reasonably escape. > Their traumatic experiences and traumatic events, from the helplessness of > a mother who could > not feed her children; to the helplessness of children who saw their > grandparents > starve to death before their eyes, were everywhere; and fear > was a constant of their lives for years. > > > > > > Research on PTSD has > shown that it is not necessary to have faced fear of death to develop the > many > parts of the PTSD syndrome: anxiety, depression, flashbacks, intense > distress, > suicidal thoughts, feelings of distrust and paranoia, detachment and > emotional numbness, > and yes, guilt, shame, and self-blame. > > > (see > http://www.helpguide.org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm > > > And http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptsd) > > > > > > The camps and slave > labor were especially traumatic, as was the whole experience of supporting > the > Russian army in those areas of the Batschka along the prolonged fighting > in the > Fall of 1944; but the escapees in the treks out of the region suffered > their > own fears and trauma. > > > > > > It is unfortunate that > DVHH offers no guidance to the successor generations about these symptoms > of > the events, because the effects linger and reverberate in successive > generations. > > > It is even more > unfortunate when those with the courage to reveal their symptoms are > attacked > and ridiculed. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Laub, D. "Kann die Psychoanalyse dazu beitragen, > den Volkermord historisch besser zu verstehen?" ("Can Psychoanalysts > Enhance Historical > Understanding of Genocide"), Psyche-Z. Psychoanal 57, 2003. > > > Neugebauer, R et al > (2009).Post‐traumatic stress reactions among Rwandan children and > adolescents > in the early aftermath of genocide. International Journal of Epidemiology. > • > Electronic publication—ahead of print. Newbury, C & Baldwin, H (2000, > July). Aftermath: Women's organizations in post‐conflict Rwanda. Retrieved > July > 6, 2009, from U.S. Agency for International Development Web site: > http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACJ324.pdf > > > > > > http://www.aaanet.org/sections/spa/?page_id=326 > > > > > > Genocide and Mass > Violence: Memory, Symptom, and Intervention Center for the Study of > Genocide > and Human Rights > > > Rutgers University > > > September 17-18, 2009 > > > > > > Organizers: Alex > Hinton (Rutgers University) and Devon Hinton (Massachusetts General > Hospital) > > > > > > This interdisciplinary > conference included over 25 participants, including several international > speakers, from psychological anthropology, medical anthropology, social > medicine, psychiatry, public health, and psychology. It examined the > legacies > of genocide and mass violence on individuals and the social worlds in which > they live, with particular attention to the local processes of recovery > from > that legacy. The workshop > > > > > > Alex Hinton > > > Transitional Justice: > Global Mechanisms and Local Realities after Genocide and Mass Violence > (Rutgers, 2010) > > > > Best, > Joe. > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message