Just as polio stalked the 1950s, and AIDS overshadowed the 1980s and ‘90s, post-traumatic stress disorder haunts us in the early years of the twenty-first century. Over a decade into America’s “global war on terror,” PTSD afflicts as many as 30 percent of the conflict’s veterans. But the disorder’s reach extends far beyond the armed forces. In total, some twenty-seven million Americans are believed to be PTSD survivors. Yet to many of us, the disorder remains shrouded in mystery, secrecy, and shame.
Drawing on his own battles with post-traumatic stress, David J. Morris — a war correspondent and former Marine — has written a humane, unforgettable book that will sit beside The Noonday Demon and The Emperor of All Maladies as the essential account of an illness. Through interviews with people living with PTSD; forays into the rich scientific, literary, and cultural history of the condition; and memoir, Morris crafts a moving work that will speak not only to those with PTSD and their loved ones, but to all of us struggling to make sense of an anxious and uncertain time.
