According to the National Institute of Mental Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is "an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat." In recent years the occurrence of PTSD in those who have served in war zones has received increasing attention. Survivors of sexual violence also experience high rates of PTSD.
Resources from our website
Walking with Vets. Metro Mennonite Church, Oklahoma City reaches out with compassion and tangible support to veterans living with post traumatic stress disorder and other challenges.
Trauma Healing Resources
Returning Veterans, Returning Hope, an effort of the Mennonite Peace and Justice Support Network. Moral injury, a type of wounding of the soul or conscience, can stay with a veteran long after military service concludes. The feelings of shame, regret and fear that many combat veterans carry in response to violent events continue to wound. The Peace and Justice Support Network is working with a variety of Mennonite Church USA congregations and other partners to learn more about how churches can prepare to be places of healing for returning veterans.
Seminars on Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR). STAR trauma healing workshops have trained thousands of caregivers and leaders worldwide to promote healing, revitalize their communities, and stop cycles of victimhood and violence. STAR teaches strategies for handling post-traumatic stress and leading others beyond traumatic events, informed by the latest trauma healing research from the fields of neurobiology, psychology, restorative justice, conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and religion/spirituality. The curriculum is developed by internationally-renowned faculty and training staff of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.
The Little Book of Trauma Healing: When Violence Strikes and Community is Threatened. Carolyn Yoder. Good Books, 2005. "The primary premise and challenge of this Little Book is that traumatic events and times have the potential to awaken the human spirit, and, indeed, the global family. But this requires acknowledging our own history and that of the enemy, honestly searching for root causes, and shifting our emphasis from national security to human security."
From Mental Health Ministries
