Dr. Tyndall noted that the YWCA partnership with Pfizer is a good match, as local YWCA branches collectively are the nation s largest providers of domestic violence services, and one of the largest providers of rape crisis services. Greene detailed for a rapt audience her descent into PTSD and a recovery process consisting of counseling, medication and fierce determination. Greene s reactions included isolation, profound sadness, fear overall, a sense that she was going crazy. Greene and her fellow panelists characterized PTSD as a response to any serious trauma, whether experienced, witnessed or even heard about. PTSD victims may develop depression or attempt to find comfort in alcohol or other drugs.
Feelings range from anguish to an overwhelming numbness.
Suicide attempts are not uncommon. Panelist Dr. Patricia Resick, director of the Center for Trauma Recovery at the University of Missouri-St. Indeed, the disorder was nameless until 1978, when it was clear that shell shock was not sufficient to characterize the trauma that Vietnam veterans described and re-experienced. Law-enforcement and medical professionals are themselves at risk. Front-line professionals are in a vulnerable but important position, Resick said.