Awful truth #14: Life is PTSD.
“There’s no such thing as a normal life. There’s just life.”
Doc Holliday, Tombstone
“Life just ain’t easy. You gotta struggle till you die and all you can do is make the best of it and sometimes that ain’t much.”
John M. Del Vecchio, The 13th Valley
“Sometimes one event is so meaningful that it divides life into before and after.”
Tara Conklin
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not the same as a blind person needing a seeing eye dog, a lame person needing a wheelchair, or someone with an organic brain injury. PTSD can’t be seen, per se, since it’s caused by a traumatic experience that affects one’s mental state. In some cases, the condition may be so debilitating that extensive therapy is necessary for the person to function reasonably well.
Society must adopt a seemingly cruel tenet related to these traumas, which we all experience to one degree or another: Those who are physically capable of working or otherwise being a productive member of society, must do so, regardless of any emotional or psychological burden.
I recognize the devastation to one’s psyche which can result from a traumatic event, and that this can haunt a person the rest of his or her life. But we must go on with life if we’re physically able to do so. Otherwise, the cause of our distress wins, the afflicted person loses forever, and society at large suffers, as well.
Life is a terrible and wonderful thing. It’s full of overt shocks, and ones only known to ourselves. Fate, which metes out these shocks, does not care about your wealth or privilege. Some people are far better off than others materially, and some of these wealthy people find themselves traumatized. Poor people with difficult lives manage to get on with life each day—they have no choice but to do so. Bad things happen to each of us. Unimaginably terrible things happen to some of us. Yet somehow, we as a species, go on. Must go on. This applies to individuals, as well, who must go on, from each today to each tomorrow.
I’d love for everyone to be happy, healthy, safe, and lead fulfilling lives to the greatest extent possible, but I recognize that in life we are due our share of woe. In fact, a measure of woe in our lives is essential for the good things in life to have any meaning. There exists no means to allot woe equally or in an amount which matches a person’s fortitude.
Regardless of the amalgam of good and bad experiences that makes up each of our lives, there is an important duty to fulfill. As adults we must do our best to be productive members of society. This is true unless you truly are debilitated by age or infirmity. If you can physically work, you must do so. What this means for most folks with comfort animals: Snap the hell out of it.
There are those who read this truth and consider it unnecessarily cruel. They are wrong. It would be far crueler if I did not share it with you, and you not embrace it.
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