Senior Pastor Recommends Book About Recovery from PTSD
Hi, my name is Roland Trujillo PhD. I am a pastor and counselor. I would like to recommend four books.
These four book, all page turners which I highly recommend you buy or get from your library, have a common theme-- victory over their mental health issues. They also have common methodologies--getting busy, helping others, overcoming physical obstacles (like climbing a mountain or running a race), and, I think, for three of the four having experienced the touch of God.
These four guys also had a fighting spirit, even a rebellious one, which somehow held them in good stead.
The first book I would like to recommend is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, the Louis Zamperini story, by Laura Hillenbrand.
In case you don't know, she is the author of Seabiscuit (from her story they made the movie Seabiscuit). This book is very popular. It is a good story. It is inspirational. Its author is also famous. It's a great World War II story.
But don't overlook a very, very important fact-- Louis Zamperini completely recovered from PTSD. This is very important. And it's not just a story - it is a true real life story
I'm going to repeat it one more time to make sure it does not get lost in the shuffle:
Don't overlook a very, very important fact-- Louis Zamperini completely recovered from PTSD. This is very important. And it's not just a story - it is a true real life story.
Nor did he merely survive, he fully recovered.
Louis was held as a prisoner of war in a slave labor camp in World War II. Starving for months, he developed beriberi, dysentery, and scurvy. But the worst part is that he was beaten viciously by a sadistic prison officer, and he was beaten every day for months. He saw others tortured and die, even as he himself was about to die from starvation, disease, and daily beatings with fists, clubs, and belt buckles.
After the war, he suffered post traumatic stress disorder, started drinking and was getting worse and worse. I won't tell you the whole story so you can read it yourself (I got the book at the free public library). Here's the thing. He was confronted by someone who brought a Christian message. He began to see that he was full of hate. He encountered the God of conscience.
He let go of the hate, had a change of heart, and he never again had a flashback. In my opinion, this rapid and complete repair had little to do with the particular individual who brought the message, but was the result of an inner action on the soul. The messenger was the catalyst; the repair was the work of God upon a soul ready and receptive to repent.
Today he is in his 90's, still active and moving forward.
I forgot to mention: he got active speaking to others and bringing a positive message. He also started an outdoor camp for wayward boys.
The touch of God, a change of heart, getting out of self preoccupation, helping others, being active - an unbeatable combination.
Med Head: My Knock Down, Drag Out, Drugged Up Battle with my Brain is the true story page turner, told in the first person, of a kid diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome and OCD. He was given a bunch of meds "let's try this and see if it works." And when he had horrible side effects, time and again, unbelievably, the dose was often increased. He eventually recovers thanks to an outdoor camp and outdoor adventures (like climbing a mountain) where he discovered that he can have some control over mental issues. This inspirational story is a must read for parents and kids who want to be informed.
When people feel depressed or unhappy, they are often given the advice to get out and do something. I agree. In the book I co-authored Mike's Story: How I Overcame Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar, OCD and Other Issues Without Drugs I recall that Mike says that when he was around 30 years old he was so depressed he could hardly leave his apartment. Finally, he dragged himself to one community college course, and it was that small beginning of doing that one thing that launched him back into an active and successful life.
Two other excellent books come to mind. First, The Day the Voices Stopped: a Schizophrenic's Journey from Madness by Ken Steele, a famous advocate for people with mental health issues and who have been diagnosed with a mental illness.
The author and advocate, himself diagnosed with schizophrenia, after years of torment, mental fog, treatments and side effects, says that one day his voices just stopped. He attributes it to a new drug he took.
But I also noted that he had recently begun to work really hard on an advocacy program for patients like himself. He eventually became a famous and effective advocate for people with mental health issues.
He got out of himself and began helping others. He did something and what he did was good and helpful to others. He found a purpose in life that transcended his own issues.
I am only speculating, but I strongly suspect that the Good Lord placed an injunction against these malicious voices and held them in abeyance, perhaps because of Steele's new love for helping others or for some other reason (prayer, for example).
But his relief could also be something as simple as the fact that Steele forgot self, stopped self obsessing, and began thinking only of others. These voices get to us when we are all caught up in ourselves--resentful, ambitious, or overly concerned about ourselves, and they tempt us to make decisions, do foolish things or become paranoid. They then prey upon our guilt with all manner of negative suggestions and try to convince us that we are responsible for whatever bad things might happen (again, do you see the egotism they are capitalizing on?).
It could be that when we stop being concerned about our guilts and fears, the voices have nothing more to tempt us with, and so they go bother someone else.
Anyway, back to the Med Head book. It's great. Highly recommended.
The following is a brief excerpt from the review on the Amazon page.
From Booklist
This youth edition of Against Medical Advice (2008) . . . . . the story of the medical tribulations of young Cory Friedman, son of co-author Friedman. . . . . A first-person voice gets inside the head of Cory, who we met as a four-year-old recently prescribed Ritalin. It is the beginning of a grueling 13-year saga that is as much a struggle against Tourette’s as it is an endless war drug cocktails wage inside his body. His condition is alarming: OCD impulses create violent tics that sometimes knock him over or compel him to grab the steering wheels of moving cars. Soon the happy child becomes a slave to capricious masters by the names of Paxil, Risperdal, Klonopin, and more. . . . . It’s hard to deny the power of this story, though, or its ultimate inspirational effect. Grades 7-10. --Daniel Kraus
I hope that if you have any interest in PTSD, schizophrenia, OCD, Tourettes, or mental health recovery in general, that you read at least one of these books. Being told in the form of a story, they are really good reads.
Find out more about a meditation for PTSD and free educational resources for PTSD
Roland Trujillo MS PhD BCPC, ordained pastor and the author of 10 books, has been helping people cope with stress for over 20 years.
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