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.

http://www.welt.de/gesundheit/psychologie/article122488828/Psychische-Belastung-wirkt-sich-auf-die-Enkel-aus.html Hi Joe... Found this interesting article a while ago. It is an article in German that explains how trauma can be passed down to successive generations. Rita > From: psotka@msn.com > To: joepsotka@gmail.com; kandhkiely@rogers.com; rosevetter@gmail.com > Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 14:18:47 -0400 > CC: donauschwaben-villages@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [DVHH] Survivor Trauma, Fear, lifelong anxiety, depression, shame, PTSD, and Genocide > > > > > 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

Dear Joe, On May 3rd you posted to the list: “My parents also never spoke about being Shwovish to anyone outside the family, but a large part of that was being ashamed of being imprisoned in Gakowa (my mother and I) or being sent to slave labor in the Donetsk(my father). For those of us interned, it was a very painful and shameful part of our life and we never wanted to talk about it, and hid it whenever we could, in whatever way we could. The second generation seems to think that this experience is something we wanted to discuss, but I assure we did not and it is even harder to get started with strangers." Today you wrote: "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." I take it that by "successor generations" you mean the researchers who want to know what happened to our people during and after World War II. Forgive me if I don’t quite understand you, but your two statements seem to contradict one another. On the one hand, you did not want to discuss your experiences, but in the second statement you say that the DVHH “offers no guidance about these symptoms of the events…” If you feel that anyone on the list ridiculed you, please forgive them and consider that in the heat of discussions like these, feelings run very deep, especially for those of us of the “Erlebnisgeneration” (experience generation) - When I posted about my grandparents’ and relatives' ordeal, I broke out in tears, and this 70 years later. I’m sure most people would love to take back some rash words blurted out in the heat of the moment and say mea culpa – I know I have many times. The DVHH is sincerely sympathetic to anyone dealing with PTSD, even those who have it second-hand. According to this article (link below), “When PTSD transfers from the battlefield to the home, this disorder quickly becomes a family affair. So set an extra plate at dinner tonight; PTSD is joining you. One of the things I hear time and time again is that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an isolated condition. If you think that's true, you're not alone; I used to be one of those people. But when I began working with veterans, I discovered something profound: PTSD affects every person in the sufferer's life, from spouses to children to extended family to friends. Second-hand trauma is real, and if it lingers untreated, can be just as scarring as having PTSD yourself. For children, the exposure to PTSD is especially toxic."" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-cypers-kamen-ma/ptsd-veterans-family_b_2505624.html PTSD is a family affair and when a member of the family suffers, the whole family suffers. Joe, your battlefield was the expulsion and internment/enslavement of you and your family. We in your extended “Schwowisch” family feel your pain and we support you. But don’t think that a genealogy mail list, website or a Facebook group is equipped to deal with PTSD, depression, mental illness, etc. Talk to your family and share your feelings with them. Don’t torture yourself any longer and please seek professional counselling. You owe it to yourself, your family and your descendants. Please accept this in the spirit it is given. Sincerely, Rose On 6 May 2014 17:16, Rita Schiwanowitsch <schiwanore@msn.com> wrote: > > http://www.welt.de/gesundheit/psychologie/article122488828/Psychische-Belastung-wirkt-sich-auf-die-Enkel-aus.html > Hi Joe... > Found this interesting article a while ago. It is an article in German > that explains how trauma can be passed down to successive generations. > Rita > > > From: psotka@msn.com > > To: joepsotka@gmail.com; kandhkiely@rogers.com; rosevetter@gmail.com > > Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 14:18:47 -0400 > > CC: donauschwaben-villages@rootsweb.com > > Subject: Re: [DVHH] Survivor Trauma, Fear, lifelong anxiety, depression, > shame, PTSD, and Genocide > > > > > > > > > > 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 > > > > ------------------------------- > 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 >