Research Writer Looking For Info On Ptsd

[Tracky2]

Hi to all
I realise this is a very private and sensitive topic, so I hope I am not being to intrusive to anyone when I ask for information on the topic off PTSD.
I am a non published fiction writer and one of my main characters will suffer from PTSD after being harmed physically in a war situation. On his return I wish to write accurately about how he would be behaving and the symptoms he may be demonstrating after his return home from hospital. I should also make people aware that this will be a romantic drama so I am looking for information on how the partner can help support someone who is displaying signs off PTSD.
I do not wish to offend anyone by not having empathy in my writing about such a personal topic such as PTSD so if anybody wishes to guide me and is willing to discuss any issues with me it would be much appreciated.

Thanks again in advance for anyone who replies.

 

[EveHarrington]

It's a difficult topic-----probably why you haven't received any responses yet.

The truth?

All PTSD relationships are tough. (And not like normal non PTSD relationship "tough".) The idea of intertwining a romance novel with PTSD is probably what's throwing off people here IMHO.

I can't say much else other than a brief glance into the world if PTSD via a forum post isn't going to give you enough information to be able to write a realistic story. If you want to know about PTSD and trauma, get your hands on a number of the top trauma/PTSD books out there and read, read, read.

On a more personal level the romanticism of a life devastating disorder just doesn't sit well with me. Isolation is a major common thread in the PTSD community. PTSD isn't the kind of disorder where we run to those who support us and stick with them while we battle the disorder. Much of the time the opposite is true-----we isolate from the world, particularly from those who are closest to us. This is the reality of what we deal with and to me doesn't really fit in with a romance novel. Sort of why I don't believe that the accurate portrayal of PTSD can really happen in a romance novel given what romance novel readers want out of such a book.

 

[Stickler]

Oh, I dunno, I think it could *maybe* work...

I just think the happy ending demanded by romance readers would...ah...not be congruent with my life history...

*slaps more duct tape on busted-up heart*

 

[RecedingMoonlight]

Just like Eve said, be very vary about making a romance with certain disorders. PTSD can be different for everyone, depending on personality and the type of trauma - my sufferer, for example, doesn't isolate; she is incredibly scared when alone and is highly clingy, mostly due to a perceived chance of abandonment. However, other individuals simply cannot handle being around others and will isolate, a lot. If you read up even on a basic Wikipedia article, various symptoms include outbursts of anger, feelings of alienation, suicidal ideations, hypervigilence (feeling constantly on edge, that something can and will go wrong, with or without evidence of such), and nightmares, night terrors and insomnia are just some of the few symptoms sufferers may have.

I think it's good that you are writing a character with PTSD. However, keep in mind it may be difficult to write. (I am a writer myself. It can be difficult to place yourself in the mind of another when you don't 100% know how it feels to be in that position.) Individuals with PTSD will, most of the time when triggered, experience a flashback as if they were brought back to that point. It varies according to many - some people dissociate, lose track of time and are not 'themselves', some people feel like they're hallucinating the situation, others can become aware they're having a flashback but can't shake off the fear associated with what they're triggered by...etc, etc.

As a supporter of a sufferer, I agree with what Eve is saying. Please, please be careful regarding the romance. It can work if done correctly, but like others have said, it is very common for sufferers to pull away, isolate, move out of the house, and have zero contact with a partner that they may have gotten exceptionally well with - and, of course, there is more. Shouting, yelling, outbursts of anger and fear, and even verbal abuse towards their supporter (whether it be unintentionally or not) are also common, but it depends on the person. Chances are, if you want to accurately portray PTSD, I'm so sorry, but the two characters you want to put together will have to go through a LOT of turmoil, fear, and boundary setting. There are happy endings for sufferers. But it's not easy, and PTSD to many, even with therapy and medication, may never fully be "gone". Which means that if your veteran has PTSD, keep in mind that his romantic interest will have to be determined and willing to accept the idea that he may act this way on his bad days, for the rest of his life.

Please be careful before creating a character with PTSD, or any disorder for that matter. Unlike lovey dovey movies and romance novels, being in love will not 'fix' their disorder, and they can't be healed or feel better by simply a very passionate set of words and tears and heartfelt kisses. Even if a situation like that happened, the human brain, when under duress and fear, will not remember moments of heartfelt promises like those. Even if it happens multiple times.

PTSD is different for everyone, especially if it crosses over into other disorders. I think your best bet is to buy and read a lot of books regarding it, and research and see other people's perspectives and testimonies regarding their PTSD and how it affects them. Best of luck to you :)

 

[UnKnown-Self]

You're f*ckin kidding us right... A a romantic drama about PTSD ...
Do some reading and research at the library. Learn what your asking ... Go volunteer somewhere, invest your time and yourself and see. There's nothing romantic about it. I personally find it offensive that you would think it so easy to to fictionalize something when suffers struggle hard enough to believe it themselves.
Instead how about you go into a neighborhood with gang turf and ask them what life's like because you want to write a story or better yet, join the military and request active duty. Write what you know and don't try to profit off of others pain.

Climbs down off the soapbox kicks it in the corner and leaves.

 

[UnKnown-Self]

One more thing .... Your character come home .... Traumatizes his romantic interest and spends the rest of the time hunting the author of the book to make sure a real education about PTSD is learned.

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

Meh there's over saturation of ptsd in media atm. It kinda the fashionable thing to put in TV shows, movies and that. If I were you is steer clear of ptsd especially for a romance novel. Generally there's no quick fix happily ever after scenario and this is kinda what is required to end a romance novel with.

Nice rounding ups don't generally occur with ptsd we have to deal and struggle and learn to cope. It's not very happily ever after.

 

[The Albatross]

Check out the supporters section and the supporter's video series. It might actually be nice to see a couple actually work through the difficulties of PTS/PTSD and a relationship for a change. It might be nice to include the difference/distinction between the two to edify the readership as well.

Link to the supporter's vid series: Link Removed
Also on the home page there is a solid article about the fallacy of PTSD prevalence and stuff in the archives.

 

[mary1979]

You guys being so harsh.

I can picture the title


'50 shades of PTSD'

It will be a sellout.

 

[The Albatross]

Maybe the OP can include the cynicism as a sub plot.

 

[Anarchy]

The guys so far have covered the person who has PTSD

oh, and the rage, isolation and inconsolability is all rational - it's just that the rationality is seeing the reality through a very strong filter of threat.

Most psychiatric medications can absolutely trash sexual function for either gender - can't lubricate, can't get hard, can't climax, lose the ability to experience multiple orgasms, lose all interest.....
so the bedroom scenes could potentially be very disappointing if any one of the characters is on medications.

OK, what about the supporter?
Check out the literature on co-dependency and enabling behaviours. also on passive agression.
The supporter may not be that way when the relationship starts, but it's very easy to fall into that sort of behaviour, or very difficult not to fall into it.

Also - even with the unprecedented war mongering of the united state and its vassal states - Military/combat PTSD is still a tiny minority of total PTSD in the population.
The vast majority of PTSD sufferers in the English speaking world (approx 50 to 100 times the number of combat ptsd sufferers, based on the proxy of posts by trauma type on this site) are female, and suffered sexual abuse, rape, sexual assaults, abandonment or extreme and prolonged violence.

For people who have had PTSD since infancy (many of us have) flashbacks do not necessarily contain images - they can be purely emotional or purely somatic - bodily pains and the like, and there is absolutely nothing which says

"oh, by the way, you've got PTSD"

For decades we can think that we had a "nice family". Actually discovering about PTSD can be a red pill experience that is far more dramatic than the one in "the matrix". It really is like finding yourself as a character in a Philip K Dick sci fi story. Are my memories real? or complete?

As an example, young woman I used to work with, she was fairly good looking, and a very sweet sort of person. but she was completely absent minded - for example she trashed a work vehicle by trying to drive it down a narrow alleyway and scraped and bent the bodywork on both sides.
She also got a reputation for f*cking the most junior labourers - and f*cking lots of them too.

With hindsight the poor girl was probably dissociative, and re-enacting her traumas. I don't know for sure, but with hindsight, it certainly looks like it, and the tales of her going absolutely limp when she was getting f*cked, tend to tie in with the idea that she was engaging in the acting out of a traumatic sexuality.

There are writers here who have told incredible stories of fortitude and determination - but very few could ever be shoe horned into the genre of romantic fiction.

 

[The Albatross]

Very nice to pause to consider that the "partner" has their own schemas and undealt with issues... yeah there's definitely a sub plot there. Especially if you under pin it with the cyclical nature of familial dysfunctions or a traumatic event that is unprocessed.

Still a bit perplexed about the "drama" part of the "romantic drama" thing... hope if you take it up you endeavor to pain a real life rather than Hallmark or Harlequin version of relational events.