For many veterans, the horrors of war do not cease when they return home. For many victims of rape and abuse, experiences do not fade but darken as time goes on. For many witnesses of tragic events, mental images linger, affecting lifestyles and peace of mind.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 7.7 million adults suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Among those diagnosed are adults, teenagers and returning war veterans. The College of Arts and Sciences will host a lecture and panel today discussing PTSD and its effect on soldiers, from the time of the Trojan War to today.

‘(PTSD) is a topic that’s quite prominent now on campus and across the country, especially in connection with the Iraq War,’ said Gerald Greenberg, associate dean of The College of Arts and Sciences. ‘The people in (The Program in Classics) and some of the other people on campus tried to think how we could broaden that idea.’

The two-part program consists of a panel discussion at 12:45 p.m. in 304AB Schine Student Center. The discussion, called ‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Undoing of Character,’ will be followed by a lecture by author and research specialist Jonathan Shay in Maxwell Auditorium at 4:30 p.m.

Greenberg said he sees the panel and lecture as an ideal opportunity to bring an international issue to a localized setting.

‘This is a classic example of how research in this area can be useful for people everywhere,’ he said. ‘Not just people doing the research but people outside, especially for the veterans, – we have a VA hospital right next door.’

Greenberg helped set up the panel of three State University of New York Upstate Medical University professors moderated by Stephen Maisto, a clinical psychology professor.

Maisto described PTSD as a syndrome that appears six months after the initial stress or event actually happened.

‘It’s a delayed response to a major stress,’ he said.

Maisto said these stresses include, but are not limited to, participation in combat or war, rape, a major car accident or witnessing a major injury or death. Symptoms include avoidance of people and places, high anxiety and flashbacks.

‘PTSD has been with us for thousands of years but really only became recognized formally starting about 25 years ago in 1980,’ Maisto said.

This is when PTSD was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a handbook listing the criteria and formal diagnosis for mental disorders.

Shay, the author and research specialist, will lecture on the long history of PTSD, tracing the treatment of war veterans today all the way back to Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey.’ His lecture is part of the Finley Lecture Series, sponsored by the classics program with a special donation from SU alumnus Robert Papworth ’68.

Shay won the MacArthur Fellowship for his study of Homer in relation to historical and modern-day war veterans. He wrote two books on the topic. The first, ‘Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character,’ associates war experiences in Vietnam with those of Achilles in the Iliad. ‘Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trails of a Homecoming’ examines a veteran’s return home from war.

While Shay’s lecture will center on the connection between veterans and PTSD, the panelists will also discuss other populations affected by the disorder.

Robert Gregory, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at SUNY Upstate Medical University, specializes in treatment teaching and research of borderline personality disorder, a topic he will address at the panel. He is researching the effects of childhood trauma and the neglect on how adults view themselves and their ability to understand relationships or develop realistic and complex views.

Gregory said people with PTSD have ‘a very hard time understanding what’s happening with themselves emotionally, and instead, they tend to have a generalized state of hyper arousal with symptoms of anxiety and irritability.’

Gregory developed a treatment for PSTD called ‘dynamic deconstructive psycho-therapy.’ The treatment consists of creative writing, dream exploration and provoking patients to talk about experiences.

‘The aim is to help patients to become more aware of their emotional experiences, so they can develop an integrated and coherent sense of self,’ he said.

Greenberg said he hopes students attend the event and gain an understanding of PTSD and its effects on different populations.

‘I hope they learn something about the issue, how it affects people and how prevalent it might be,’ he said. ‘I hope students come to have some sort of appreciation for the things these people have to deal with.’

jmterrus@syr.edu

Published on April 1, 2008 at 12:00 pm