5 Survivors: Personal Stories of Healing from PTSD and Traumatic Events

First-person accounts by five PTSD survivors bring hope to the millions suffering from but not yet diagnosed with this affliction--and their loved ones.

Each year millions of people are afflicted by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Most struggle to simply make it through the day as sights, sounds, and smells bring their life's most harrowing experience front and center, to be relived again and again. And many are unaware of the root problem of these symptoms or are unwilling to admit one exists.

Through moving firsthand accounts 5 Survivors sheds an intimate light on the impact of PTSD on three veterans of war, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina, and a victim of childhood sexual abuse. With courage and honesty, they tell their stories of trauma, revealing the struggles they faced later in life, and how they eventually worked toward positive change and healing.

With the guidance of PTSD expert and researcher Tracy Stecker, Ph.D. who outlines the symptoms and progress of each survivor, those living untreated with PTSD may see themselves in these stories, realize they are not alone, and take action to get help. Friends and family of those who have been greatly impacted by trauma will gain a more intimate understanding of a loved one's struggle and pain.

About the author Tracy Stecker, Ph.D., is a psychologist at the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center. She developed a curriculum titled Using a Brief Intervention to Motivate Clients to Get Help in collaboration with Hazelden. Her focus is on treating veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan returning with PTSD and/or substance abuse issues. Several of these projects have been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute for Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.