you would be surprized. I never knew how many people have ptsd or someone close to them have it

I would say "No" on the movie or documentary. HUGE theme with my trauma is EXPLOITATION!

No! No! No! From me.

yeah you could have some clips of great rock songs in the background like when they blow people away in army movies
people could eat popcorn feel the shock and horror and then relief it's not them and end up even more desensitized than ever while poor souls who really know the pain could crumble
how do you explain ptsd to people when trauma doesn't affect everybody the same?

I don't think the "normal" people would understand the movie.
But maybe a science TV documentary could help people understand the disorder better, especially the ones who live with or care about someone affected by it, and those people would be really interested in watching it.

I like the idea. I haven't told many people that I have PTSD but the ones I have told really don't understand what it is at all. My PTSD is a result of many years of childhood SA at the hands of a sadistic individual. I believe educating people in a thoughtful and sensative way would be a very good thing.

There's a mispreception that PTSD is only for those who've fought in combat. While there's a real uptick in those cases right now people need to understand that PTSD can be caused by other things too. I think any educational platform (especially a movie) could really open folks eyes. You never know who you just might help with that kind of film.

Sure, some people won't want to watch it ... but that's the way it is with any documentary. If you earn the trust of your subjects, take your time in filming the project and simply be honest with the topic, so viewers can understand the challenges of PTSD, then you'll be doing a service to those friends and family members of PTSDers who are trying to understand their loved one, or maybe even their own symptoms, better.

By the way, I think the "crazy ideas" are your inner self giving you a road map to follow. Listen to it. Go for it!

Good luck!

Hey Guys What's up?
O.k. where to start I did not know this would be a heated topic. First of all I wasn't talking about something like the crap they put out today like the Hills, rock of love, or Jerry springer. Think back before Oprah to things like Donahue. With the Birth of a new style of movie with Blair Witch, Cloverfiel, paranormal activity. People like to see that type of emotional rawness. Now Phloxinsox I am sorry if I hit a sore spot. I can definately relate to people taking advantage, but I was thinking more of the many people who have who could be enlightened and helped from our exp. and knowledge. Tami mac know what you mean about our desensitized society, take movies like saw, hostel, and the new unrated movies with vulgarity and nudity. However I was talking about this kind of like it was therapy. I do not know if you guys remember a movie called drunks, but it was a movie that was shot mostly in an AA meeting, sure it was fiction but it had facts mixed in. Has far as people not understanding. That is one good thing about ptsd if there is anything good, it is a mixture of many different things. Depression, Anxiety, insomnia, to name a few. Trauma is based on what the individual feels deeply threatened by. Unfortunately there is an uprise in many psych illnesses mostly due to misinormation or unknown factors. O.k. this is a bad comparrison but has anyone seen those fans only music videos on yahoomusic with people lip syncing and dancing to avril and shakira. They would not be there if people were not interested or watching. Plus think of this where would we be if there was a movie or place back when we first exp. our trauma. Plus this would be a way for some of us to take back control that was taken from us by or trauma be it a person, accident, war etc. Well I hope I have not offended anyone, I told you my mind bounces and sometimes it bounces foul. God Bless, Sean

hey jennybyc,
and to think some people think we are babbling idiots. lol You just vividly showed us how things are. It is things like that which would be good in a documentary.

I totally agree. Jenny great comparison! Now I can use it too. Thank you!

yeah i was offkey and i knew you weren't really talking about that type of presentation i just feel cynical about people in general. i told my previous boss i had ptsd and she really scoffed at me and said why would YOU have ptsd. I thot about writing her a letter but never did. i saw that she was insensitive in many ways to many people and decided it wasn't worth it.
everyone talks about the vets with ptsd sometimes i wonder about all the people in afghanistan or palestians or darfur, croatia where entire communities are stricken with ptsd what is that like? what is the effect of it going to be 40 years from now? what is it to lose absolutely everything? to see your daughters raped? your sons murdered? your community desimated? you can see it in the eyes of the children and they live on some rise above and are paraded as shining examples of human spirit but what of the others?
can people really care about other people? what and how much would have to change?

Hey Tamimac,
Sorry about your boss. Yeah people do not understand. What is worse we do not either so how can we articulate what is happening with us. As fars as wartime ptsd that affects villages and mass numbers of people. Even I could not know what they would go through. That is why I am on the fence when it comes to war I do not think anyone wins it. We pay with blood and minds.