“Surviving the Shadows’: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I’m in the process of revising my site drmartytashman.com, which offers individual counseling for: anxiety, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bi Polar Disorder, and Addiction. I came across this wonderful book by Bob Delaney called
“Surviving the Shadows’: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This book is a sensitive, fascinating recounting of one extraordinary man’s struggle with PTSD. I use the word extraordinary very specifically. Delany was a state trooper who went under cover in a sting operation for getting evidence against the mafia in New Jersey. In his early 20’s Bob Delany went uncover for 2 years. The government bought a trucking company and made him president.
Together with the FBI, an other under cover trooper, and a mafia informant they were able to make significant inroads in organized crime in New Jersey. Here is where the PTSD enters the story. Delany in his role as a mobster had to take on a different personality and then, had to at the end of the investigation testify against the people (criminals) he worked with and to some measure had become his friends.
Delany was at risk every day he was under cover and long after when he had to testify. He describes in graphic detail how he became paranoid, anxious, estranged from his family and friends because of his fears.
Delany gives us a view from the inside not only of the mafia but of his soul.
This book is powerful because of it’s drama and the message it give us about PTSD.
PTSD is epidemic in it’s proportions. It effects a broad cross section of people of all ages and situations.
The newspaper Tucson Citizen on it’s site http://tucsoncitizen.com/ says:
Today there are literally hundreds of thousands of returning veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from their combat experiences. There are also hundreds of thousands of average Americans suffering from some traumatic experience in their lives resulting in PTSD.
According to .medicinenet.com
PTSD statistics in children and teens reveal that up to more than 40% have endured at least one traumatic event, resulting in the development of PTSD in up to 15% of girls and 6% of boys. On average, 3%-6% of high school students in the United States and as many as 30%-60% of children who have survived specific disasters have PTSD.
In my entry tomorrow I will talk about insights that Delany has about PTSD as well as how to get additional information about how to heal from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder