What PTSD Is

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here's a brilliant post about the kind of PTSD that builds slowly, a pervasive shift in worldview, rather than the kind that comes from a sudden major shock.  This is how it can form in people who aren't front-line soldiers but rather support crew, or cops, or people living in poverty or neglectful relationships.  

Now look at the part where it talks about society not being a safe place, everyone's out to get each other, no trustworthy connections, no safety net if something goes wrong, nobody to care if you live or die.  That's what we're making our world into every time we cut public services and support.  We're making it more like the place inside a PTSD sufferer's head.  "Every man for himself and devil take the hindmost" isn't a society.  It's madness.

Comments

Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

The way I see it is like this: Life is not fair. The purpose of civilization is to make life more fair.

There's a spectrum. We can't stop death or random misfortune. We can choose to build societies with a high level of fault tolerance so those inevitable griefs do the least possible harm. We can choose to avoid creating avoidable problems. Or we can fuck each other over. Some societies are closer to the crappy end, some to the shiny end.

The more energy we put into resilience and compassion, the better for everyone.