A Powerful Look at PTSD

War in the Mind a powerful look at PTSD

November 7, 2011 - There were officially over 58,000 U.S. casualties of the Vietnam War. Incredibly, since then nearly twice as many vets have died by suicide.

This is one of the largely hidden legacies of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, examined in Judy Jackson’s riveting documentary War in the Mind, screening Tuesday and Wednesday night on the Knowledge Network.

There are other grim statistics in Jackson’s film—lots of them—but the real power of War in the Mind comes from its up close and personal view of a handful of Canadian soldiers struggling with PTSD after returning from Afghanistan.

In all cases the tale is the same. Overwhelmed with horror and guilt, returning soldiers can’t talk about what they’ve experienced. Substance abuse, anger, violence, and self-destructive behaviour follow. Families and lives are ruined. “My kids are scared of me,” says one of Jackson’s interviewees. A veteran of World War II reveals that he wakes up every night at 4 AM “in another place.” He says it’s been happening for 60 years.

“It’s do with stuff that’s lodged in your amygdala, the primitive brain,” explains director Jackson, calling the Straight from Salt Spring Island, “and it’s to do with reprocessing that and putting it into your memory where you can get it when you want to but you don’t have to suffer it all the time.” read more>>>

Trailer

Throughout history the lasting psychological effects of war have taken a terrible toll on soldiers and their families. Soldiers living with post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as mothers who have lost their sons to suicide, share their experiences in the hopes of erasing the stigma.