Quotes About Trauma

There can scarcely be anything worse than surviving something which shatters your mind and leaves you obsessed with revenge.

His mind raced through past horrors experienced first hand and from the accounts of others. He mentally flipped through a grim database which contained everything from vegan flatmates to psychotic pimps.

It wasn't the bomb that defeated us, but our own shell shock.

This was to be his most stubborn, persistent memory of the war: that fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy, still smooth-cheeked, filthy with the dirt of battle and dried blood, laid out on a stretcher with his heart exposed to the air.

You've completely forgotten what it takes to raise a child, Mr. Bogart. And this girl is traumatized -- she misses her mother, she's been pulled away from everything she knows, her family, her friends, her school, her community, her language. Can you imagine what that must be like?

the thirty-some years since then, his mind had eliminated that experience from his memory. He remembered it as if he'd read it in a book, not as something personal, although he has scars and burn marks on his body and can't lift his arms above shoulder height, because

Sometimes I am assaulted by the memory of a scene from that time on the street, a memory that flares up inside me and leaves me trembling. Other times I wake up sweating with images in my head, as vivid as if they were real. In the dream I see myself running naked, screaming voicelessly, in a labyrinth of narrow alleys that coil like serpents, buildings with blank doors and windows, not a soul to ask for help, my body burning, my feet bleeding, bile in my mouth, all alone.

In the end the only insurance he lacked was against his worst memories

pero no se puede mandar en la memoria ni en las pesadillas.

We had not only lost our childhood in the war but our lives had been tainted by the same experiences that still caused us great pain and sadness.

My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed. The extent of my thoughts didn't go much beyond that. We had been fighting for over two years, and killing had become a daily activity. I felt no pity for anyone.

You can only threaten someone with hell if they have never had hell

She was wearing her white uniform and was on her way to take on other traumatized children. It must be tough living with so many war stories. I was just living with one, mine, and it was difficult, as the nightmares about what had happened continued to torment me. Why does she do it? Why do they all do it? I thought as we went our separate ways. It was the last time I saw her. I loved her but never told her.

I'd been to a number of war zones before in my life, but I had never been in one as terrifying as Chechnya.

I think there's loads of undiagnosed depression where I came from. Post-traumatic stress disorder as well. Some of the things you see as a kid are like the things you'd expect to see in a war zone, but there's no one to talk to about it because running to a psychiatrist ain't the thing.

I investigated post-traumatic stress disorder. I've been to a unit where people are suffering from it, and I read a lot of literature. I looked at footage of soldiers in the combat zone. I found 'Restrepo' to be unbelievably useful.

I think when your imagination goes to work, and when you're first bullied, you feel like you're going to die. School becomes a war zone, and you can't function.

The burnt child dreads the fire.

When I close my eyes, I still see things no one should ever experience: a bright red light, the black cloud soon after, people running in every direction trying desperately to escape - I remember it all.

When you are interviewing refugees, each person you talk to has a different story that could come from a horror movie. So many people talk about seeing their families get murdered before their eyes. Then I go to Central Park, and people are talking about their third divorce and paying tuition.

I had a relatively tumultuous childhood.

I had a very rough and tumultuous childhood.

My heart stopped seven times and I had to be resuscitated seven times. It's incredible I'm still here so every day I feel happy to have a second chance but I'm sorry to say I didn't see any tunnel or any light at the end of it.

The Constitution is never tested during times of tranquility; it is during times of tension, turmoil, tragedy, trauma, and terrorism that it is sorely tested.