Post-Traumatic Stress

The paper at hand attempts to interpret a female war journalist's, the protagonist's, Sarah Goodwin's, decision to return to war zones after surviving a near-death experience in Time Stands Still, by Donald Margulies, (2010). The play starts with the protagonist's strong assertion that she is endangering her life working in different war zones just to help the victims of wars by showing the world pictures of their suffering. After surviving a deadly road-bomb accident, Sarah Goodwin decided to settle down at home and never return to dangerous zones. However, after six months of recovery, this female war journalist decided to return to war zones. The present study finds it intriguing to speculate on Sarah Goodwin's determination to return to such zones at such a time of her life. Through consulting some aspects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and different aspects of Jacques Lacan's words on photography, lack, and absence, the present study concludes that the protagonist's desire to go back to war zones does not just help show the world pictures of wars victims' suffering, but it helps the protagonist construct her own identity. Photography/war journalism becomes a medium through which Sarah Goodwin asserts her identity as a human being as she cannot fulfill her feminine role as a nurturer in a patriarchal society. The audience realizes that through photography, the protagonist projects her sense of lack and pain and attempts to attain some sense of wholeness.

The article deals with the psychological resources of reducing devastating experiences of traumatic events. It is shown that traumatic events do not always lead to devastating consequences. It has been found out that viability can be considered aninternal human resource,which enables an individual to resist the destructive effects of a trauma. The following resources of individual viability have been identified: a focus on self-fulfillment, vitality, life satisfaction, the ability to change one’s own attitude to risk and trauma causing events. The author argues that trauma is not always a post-traumatic disorder. Under certain conditions, an experience of traumatic events leads to the post-traumatic personal growth. Among the conditions for the growth there isindividual high viability, which is realized in the ability to be positive and optimistic about the future, to be willing to overcome difficulties and hardships, to manage risk, to take care ofone’s own safety and life ecology.
Key words: trauma, post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic growth,
resilience.

Floods are the most common natural disaster in both developed and developing countries Flood is one of the many types of natural disaster that affects human lives. Often the focus of such disaster has been on physical losses. Nevertheless, psychological effects of natural disaster have become equal importance that needed much attention. The objective of the current study is to explore psychological effects in terms of post-traumatic stress. The study adopted an exploratory qualitative approach. A total of 200 respondents (Male=110 and Females=90) were approached using face-to-face technique. Results showed that victims suffered from post traumatic stress including fear, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness and depression. Male are most affected as the results of the study reveals. It is suggested that Government authorities and agencies as well as NGOs should be active to mitigate the existing distress by applying intervention strategies.