War and the Soul : Healing Our Nation's Veterans and Their Families from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

War and PTSD are on the public's mind as news stories regularly describe insurgency attacks in Iraq and paint grim portraits of the lives of returning soldiers afflicted with PTSD. These vets have recurrent nightmares and problems with intimacy, can{u2019}t sustain jobs or relationships, and won{u2019}t leave home, imagining ?the enemy? is everywhere. Dr. Edward Tick has spent decades developing healing techniques so effective that clinicians, clergy, spiritual leaders, and veterans{u2019} organizations all over the country are studying them. This book, presented here in an audio version, shows that healing depends on our understanding of PTSD not as a mere stress disorder, but as a disorder of identity itself. In the terror of war, the very soul can flee, sometimes for life. Tick's methods draw on compelling case studies and ancient warrior traditions worldwide to restore the soul so that the veteran can truly come home to community, family, and self

In 2010 the Department of Veterans Affairs cited 171,423 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with PTSD, out of 593,634 total patients treated. That’s almost 30 percent; other statistics show 35 percent. Such vets typically can’t hold jobs. They are incapable of intimacy, creative work, and self-realization. Some can’t leave the house because they are afraid they will kill or be killed.

The key to healing, says psychotherapist Ed Tick, is in how we understand PTSD. In war’s overwhelming violence, the soul-the true self-flees and can become lost for life. He redefines PTSD as a true identity disorder, with radical implications for therapy. First, Tick establishes the traditional context of war in mythology and religion. Then he describes in depth PTSD in terms of identity issues. Finally, drawing on world spiritual traditions, he presents ways to nurture a positive identity based in compassion and forgiveness.

War and the Soul will change the way we think about war, for veterans and for all those who love and want to help them. It shows how to make the wounded soul whole again. When this work is achieved, PTSD vanishes and the veteran can truly return home.

The New England Journal of Medicine reports that 16 percent (one in eight) of returning Iraq veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Such vets typically cant hold jobs. They are incapable of intimacy, creative work, and self-realization. Some cant leave the house because they are afraid they will kill or be killed. The key to healing, says psychotherapist Ed Tick, is in how we understand PTSD. In wars overwhelming violence, the soulthe true selfflees and can become lost for life. He redefines PTSD as a true identity disorder, with radical implications for therapy. First, Tick establishes the traditional context of war in mythology and religion. Then he describes in depth PTSD in terms of identity issues. Finally, drawing on world spiritual traditions, he presents ways to nurture a positive identity based in compassion and forgiveness. War and the Soul will change the way we think about war, for veterans and for all those who love and want to help them. It shows how to make the wounded soul whole again. When this work is achieved, PTSD vanishes and the veteran can truly return home. In 2010 the Department of Veterans Affairs cited 171,423 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with PTSD, out of 593,634 total patients treated. That's almost 30 percent; other statistics show 35 percent. Such vets typically can't hold jobs. They are incapable of intimacy, creative work, and self-realization. Some can't leave the house because they are afraid they will kill or be killed. The key to healing, says psychotherapist Ed Tick, is in how we understand PTSD. In war's overwhelming violence, the soul?the true self?flees and can become lost for life. He redefines PTSD as This is a book that is a powerful indictment of war--of any size and at any time or place. It is a book of case histories of veterans undergoing the traumas associated with PTSD and the necessary therapy--the healings Ed Tick was able to achieve resulting in a return of soul to the embattled bodies and embattled minds of stricken soldiers This book teaches how truly to heal war trauma in veterans, their families, and our communities. Drawing on history, mythology, and soldiers' stories from World War I to Iraq, it affirms the deep damage war does to the psyche and addresses how to reclaim the soul from war's hell. Offers a powerful perspective that affirms the deep damage war does to the psyche and addresses how to truly heal war trauma in veterans, their families, and communities, drawing on history, mythology, and soldiers' stories--from World War I to Iraq. Original.