So if you're walking down the street sometime
and you should spot some hollow ancient eyes,
don't you pass them by and stare
as if you didn't care.
Say, "Hello in there. Hello."
- John Prine
You don't have to be ancient to have hollow eyes. Look anyone in the eye who has been traumatized by war, rape or a horrendous natural disaster and you will see that they are not all there.
What is missing? After someone is traumatized they go from feeling secure to feeling vulnerable all the way to their core, because their core has been violated by that event. They often don't know how they survived that trauma, but what they do know (or at least believe) is that they couldn't make it through it again. As a result they isolate from others and try to numb themselves with alcohol or other drugs, which unfortunately causes their imagination to run wild and turn increasingly more every day things into dangerous threats.
Read about PTSD from the Inside Out
Watch Mark speak about: "PTSD from the Inside Out - A Soldier's Story" below:
See and hear John Prine sing: Hello in There
Check out Mark's book: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for Dummies
And if you are walking down the street sometime and pass someone who is living in hell alone, say, "Hello in there, hello" as if you do care.
(c) 2010 Mark Goulston
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ReplyDeleteGreat tribute Mark! I assume you're from Newton Ma? I am also from Newton, Oak Hill Park in particular. I am doing a story Paul Dunne and Robert Steinseik, who were both from Oak Hill Park and both killed in Vietnam. I am trying to find out if Arthur Stroyman was from Oak Hill Park too.
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