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

I love this book. This book is like none other that addresses PTSD for Vets, most say it is an anxiety disorder. Mr. Tick is indeed on the right track in saying that our Veterans need to heal their souls, because it is their souls that suffer the wounds. It was a compelling read and touched me profoundly. I found the book to be well written, informative, and great philosphy. It has inspired me to learn more in how I could possibly be of assistance in supporting our Vets so they can find the healing that they need and deserve. I wish our nation would view PTSD in a different light, so many more people could be helped. I loved the sweat lodge, I have participated in one in the past and there is healing to that method, if only our military could be so progressive to honor what history could teach us. This just a great, great book and I will read it again. Thank you Mr.Tick.

one of the most profound books i have ever read - and i read alot. i grew up at the tail end of korea, watched vietnam on tv, then grenada, beirut, cambodia, the hutus and tutsis, iraq, afghanistan and on and on it goes. i have never read anything like this before and by the time i was done i wondered how in god's name these young people we send off to war, ever come home again, how they heal and is it possible for them. i now believe that it is possible, but to be honest, i am think that the price to them and the world is just too high. probably the best book on wars and the people we send off to fight them.

Edward Tick captures not only the sense of grief that veterans of combat experience, but he points to a possible solution to the problem of PTSD by categorizing it as an identity disorder. As an identity disorder, PTSD becomes not simply an anxiety disorder, but a destroyer of soul. The soul is concerned with issues of being, morality, and ethics. When a person enters into combat and the killing grounds, even if he or she does not actively kill, something inside the soul begins to crumble and die. Tick points out that ancient civilizations coped with these issues by carrying out elaborate rituals and by not turning war primarily into a means of killing as many people as possible. Further, war was kept to a minimum and opposing warriors met in personal struggles against one another. Modern warfare has destroyed these ancient rules of war and technology has depersonalized not only the act of killing, but allowed for mass murder to occur on unimaginable levels. Warriors simply become an extension of technology and are left to deal with the remains of war on their own. Some continue to experience grief and guilt for the rest of their lives. Unable to leave the battle field, they live between universes---post-war civilization and the never-ending horror of waking nightmares--- that cause them to see two worlds at once.Tick's proposal is that until the soul is allowed to grieve properly and to tell its story, until it is allowed to perform the rituals needed for completion of the killing, it will continue to suffer. Essential to that process is the act of storytelling, of confessing and laying to rest the deeds of the past. His proposal is one that is both practical and of universal use. His research into warrior culture across time and place speaks of the need for such practices. War may never end, but a warrior's grief and guilt may, in time, be assuaged so that he or she, at last, may return home.

So far so good.

In the last handful of wars, more veterans return home with what's known as PTSD, "Soldier's Heart," and shellshock than there were casualties. The numbers are staggeringly high (far more than the general public realizes), and this society needs to become wiser in how we help these soldiers heal from their experiences and reintegrate into this society. We need to understand how to be a community for them, so they can unburden themselves and no longer feel like they still need to protect us from the war that is still playing out inside their souls.Ed Tick is a therapist who talks about War in the language of the soul, and the soul is how veterans understand their own experiences. Having worked with vets since Vietnam and being frustrated with conventional therapies that haven't worked, Ed Tick turned to indigenous and classical cultures to find effective ways to work with returning warriors. What he has come up with is extraordinary--full of heart and soul.While requisite reading for therapists and anyone with a vet in their lives, it's an important book for everyone else. If we become individuals and communities that can truly support and heal our returning soldiers, we will also become a society that knows how to properly initiate our adolescents into adults, how to treat ourselves and others, and how to shoulder or transform the burdens that we carry in our everyday lives.

My heart-felt thanks to Dr. Tick who understands why so many wounded warriors remain wounded. He also knows why previously used methods have failed and so many warriors have chosen to end their own lives upon returning home. I cannot thank this great man enough for his determination to find a way back for those whose wounds have been to painful to talk about. This book should be required reading for every chaplain working with our wounded warriors, no matter their years of service, just beginning the path to chaplaincy and even approaching retirement. This is pure gold that can bring healing. I would also recommend this book to pastors as they will face our returning warriors and their families at some point. Don't let this book pass you by, get it and prepare to be changed forever.

Really helped

Dieses englischsprachige Buch ist vor allem Menschen an`s Herz zu legen, die Interesse bezeugen, sich intensiv mit dem Posttraumatischen Stresssyndrom zu befassen bzw.im Rahmen ihres Berufs mit traumatisierten Menschen zu tun haben und die sich für die seelische Auswirkung / Verarbeitung von Kriegserlebnissen interessieren. Vorausgesetzt sind natürlich sehr gute Englischkenntnisse und ein Wissen um diverse Fachbegriffe. Ein sehr informatives, interessantes Werk mit zahlreichen Fallbeispielen und prägenden,ergreifenden und bewußtseinserweiternden Geschichten.Empfehlenswert zum Thema wären an dieser Stelle sicher auch Bücher von Dr.Roger Woolger-beispielsweise " Other Lives-Other Selves". Dieses Buch gibt es auch in deutscher Sprache.