New Organization Supports Those Affected by Their Parents` PTSD
DENVER--(Business Wire)--
Since the Vietnam Era, the American psychiatric community has recognized the
returning war veterans` affliction of what is now commonly known as Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
While there has been much research and advancements in the treatment of PTSD,
the focus has always been on the veterans themselves. What has never been
addressed or understood, until now, is how the stress from distant battlefields
has affected the families of veterans.
Today - Veterans` Day - the first organization to support warfare`s often
invisible victims has launched an online community, www.veteranschildren.com.
Denver-based Veterans` Children is dedicated to exploring the trans-generational
consequences of living with the trauma of war and serves as a resource center
and support group for thousands of individuals and families affected by PTSD.
"Veterans` Children`s mission is to heal, inform and serve as a forum for
veterans and their families in creating a bridge of emotional reconciliation
between children and their parents who have served our country from World War
II, Korea, and Vietnam to today`s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan," explained
the organization`s founder, Leila Levinson, author of Gated Grief, a memoir and
oral history about her father`s experience as a Jewish-American doctor
liberating a Nazi Concentration Camp in 1945.
Inspired by her own experience of trans-generational trauma, Levinson spent
several years interviewing dozens of World War II veterans and their grown
children across the country. Addressing the "collateral damage" experienced by
these veterans` children was the inspiration for Gated Grief and the creation of
the new organization.
"As I spoke with these veterans - most now in their 80s - and their families, I
understood that the inability to process this grief or to even speak about these
experiences has affected the lives of thousands of Americans over several
generations. Addressing this trauma is the goal of my book and of Veterans`
Children."
The site`s navigation is designed to allow visitors to engage in conversations
with other veterans and other children and grandchildren of veterans, to get
information about PTSD, and to tell their stories - through words, photographs
and video.
Veterans` Children is planning events to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the
liberation of the camps. Visit the site for upcoming information.
Gated Grief will be available in 2010 from Cable Publishing,
www.cablepublishing.com.
Veterans` Children
Lisa Metzger, 720-833-5920
lmetzger@metzger.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
