How do you get PTSD: You get PTSD through being a victim in a situation of violence or watching another suffer violently. Also, if you see a loved one die, your chances of PTSD increase.
Signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): People suffering from PTSD have frightening thoughts and memories of their experience and can have sleeping issues, a tendency to feel detached or can be startled easily.
When does the Disease Start: This disease can start months or even years after the trauma was experienced. The disease is different for each individual.
How does PTSD relate to Slaughterhouse Five: In Billy Pilgrim’s (main character)case, his PTSD was caused by his trauma experienced through war and combat.
Treatment: Treatment consists of psychotherapy and medications.
Sources: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-easy-to-read/index.shtml
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A Play Worth the Read
This week I was lent a book by a friend. Well, technically its a play, but anyhow it is literature.
It was SO good! I would recommend A Streetcar Named Desire to ANYBODY. It's all about this couple who are quite an odd pair. They wife is of a relatively nice back round and the husband is as ordinary as the day is long. Their marriage works simply because they are deeply in love with one another. Even through strikes are aimed towards Stella (the wife), they still make it.
Stella's sister Blanche comes to stay with the couple for the summer. Through the story we as readers must put together Blanche's real life story. She claims to loose the family estate after many deaths that drain her of every penny. However, we later learn that she stayed at a few hotels and had many lovers before coming to mooch off of her sister. Blanche is obviously a very unstable person and at the end of the play she is taken away so that Stella and Stanley (the husband) can live a peaceful life together with their new baby.
Again, I really recommend this play to anyone. I haven't seen the film with our Waterfront's Brando, but I've heard that this is also very good.
It was SO good! I would recommend A Streetcar Named Desire to ANYBODY. It's all about this couple who are quite an odd pair. They wife is of a relatively nice back round and the husband is as ordinary as the day is long. Their marriage works simply because they are deeply in love with one another. Even through strikes are aimed towards Stella (the wife), they still make it.
Stella's sister Blanche comes to stay with the couple for the summer. Through the story we as readers must put together Blanche's real life story. She claims to loose the family estate after many deaths that drain her of every penny. However, we later learn that she stayed at a few hotels and had many lovers before coming to mooch off of her sister. Blanche is obviously a very unstable person and at the end of the play she is taken away so that Stella and Stanley (the husband) can live a peaceful life together with their new baby.
Again, I really recommend this play to anyone. I haven't seen the film with our Waterfront's Brando, but I've heard that this is also very good.
Friday, January 2, 2009
The Finale
Sleeping Arrangements was ADDICTING! Its like a really cheesy movie, you just can't stop.
Hugh and Chloe go back to the villa to find their "real lives" instead of the imaginary silliness they were fantasizing over in the small Spanish town. Chloe realizes how much she appreciates her family when Phillip gets told by Hugh that Phillip's sector of PBL bank will close now that Hugh's company has taken over the bank. The admirable thing to do would be to have a positive attitude and resolve to look for a new job, and this is exactly what Phillip does. Also, Chloe sees how wonderful Phillip is with Sam and Nat and how distant Hugh is from his kids.
Hugh know that when he tells Phillip that his job is lost, he will have lost any chance with Chloe. He's smart enough to know that Chloe would never leave her partner in such a tricky time. Therefore Hugh gives up on that relationship and decides to improve his marriage and fatherhood responsibilities.
At the end of the book, Gerard calls to tell the families he plans on visiting,, but both families are so fed up with his nonsense, they decide to leave just before Gerard arrives. This is a great way to get back at the sticky wine taster who plotted against his friends for his own amusement.
Hugh and Chloe go back to the villa to find their "real lives" instead of the imaginary silliness they were fantasizing over in the small Spanish town. Chloe realizes how much she appreciates her family when Phillip gets told by Hugh that Phillip's sector of PBL bank will close now that Hugh's company has taken over the bank. The admirable thing to do would be to have a positive attitude and resolve to look for a new job, and this is exactly what Phillip does. Also, Chloe sees how wonderful Phillip is with Sam and Nat and how distant Hugh is from his kids.
Hugh know that when he tells Phillip that his job is lost, he will have lost any chance with Chloe. He's smart enough to know that Chloe would never leave her partner in such a tricky time. Therefore Hugh gives up on that relationship and decides to improve his marriage and fatherhood responsibilities.
At the end of the book, Gerard calls to tell the families he plans on visiting,, but both families are so fed up with his nonsense, they decide to leave just before Gerard arrives. This is a great way to get back at the sticky wine taster who plotted against his friends for his own amusement.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
OH BOY!
The plot is thickening! Chloe needs a break because she finds her husband Phillip breaking his promise to "not talk about work". Amanda needs to get out of the villa because she hates the Murrays. So, Phillip takes Sam and Nat to a beach for the day and Amanda takes her children to a petting zoo. That leaves... Hugh and Chloe...the old love birds...
Chloe starts going stir crazy and walks right out of the house and into a town quite a few miles away. In this town, the Spanish guitars strumming and the smell of cooking garlic capture her in a moment of perfection that she desperately needed. She walks into a dress shop and craves to look fabulous like the Spanish women with their red flowers in plaited hair and long, colorful skirts. The shop keeper sees her staring longingly at a blue skirt. The keeper hands her a sleek, and barely there dress that Chloe at first rejects. However, once she is forced to wear it, she finds herself in a state of newfound confidence. She buys the dress and discards her old, brown cotton dress and saunters into a little bar with stucco walls and small wooden tables.
But...little did Chloe know
Hugh had woken late in the morning and decided to take a drive. He came to a small town with dusty, yet charming streets full of flower sellers, and indigenous rhythms. Realizing he hadn't eaten in a while he chose a small, yet friendly bar to have a class of wine. He looked up when Chloe walked in. She looked just as stunning as she did 16 years ago.
And...you can guess what happened after a couple of drinks and music and years of distance. This is NOT good. Hopefully things will clean up a bit by the end of this story.
Chloe starts going stir crazy and walks right out of the house and into a town quite a few miles away. In this town, the Spanish guitars strumming and the smell of cooking garlic capture her in a moment of perfection that she desperately needed. She walks into a dress shop and craves to look fabulous like the Spanish women with their red flowers in plaited hair and long, colorful skirts. The shop keeper sees her staring longingly at a blue skirt. The keeper hands her a sleek, and barely there dress that Chloe at first rejects. However, once she is forced to wear it, she finds herself in a state of newfound confidence. She buys the dress and discards her old, brown cotton dress and saunters into a little bar with stucco walls and small wooden tables.
But...little did Chloe know
Hugh had woken late in the morning and decided to take a drive. He came to a small town with dusty, yet charming streets full of flower sellers, and indigenous rhythms. Realizing he hadn't eaten in a while he chose a small, yet friendly bar to have a class of wine. He looked up when Chloe walked in. She looked just as stunning as she did 16 years ago.
And...you can guess what happened after a couple of drinks and music and years of distance. This is NOT good. Hopefully things will clean up a bit by the end of this story.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sleeping Arrangements
I've been reading sleeping arrangements by Madeline Wickham. This book was recommended to my by Julie. I know that she also wrote on her blog about the novel. (let's hope my analysis can equal to hers...)
The book starts introducing different stories. Almost like the Lord of the Rings connects different tales. However, the subject matter couldn't be MORE different than the Lord of the Rings! There are two families: The Strattons and The Murrays. Both families share a friend by the name of Gerard. This Gerard is a wine taster and owns a villa in Spain.
Also, both families share the desperate need for a vacation. Chloe (the partner of Phillip Murray) is a dress designer who works under the stress of demanding brides and their mothers. Phillip Murray works in a bank and is in the sticky situation of possibly loosing his job. The Murray boys, Sam and Nat are excited to take a break and enjoy a swimming pool and games. Hugh Stratton works non-stop and barely knows his own two little girls (Beatrice and Octavia). Whereas his wife, Amanda is a busy stay at home mom who is desperate to perfect her already glowing tan.
However....Gerard books them both at his villa for the same week!!!!!!! The vacation doesn't start out too smoothly for the families. Both are very mad about the mistake. And....Hugh and Chloe are forced to look back 16 years at the time that they were dating. This booking mistake was quite coincidental! (or was it?)
I'll have to read more to discover the mystery, or lack of behind Gerard's "whoopsies"
The book starts introducing different stories. Almost like the Lord of the Rings connects different tales. However, the subject matter couldn't be MORE different than the Lord of the Rings! There are two families: The Strattons and The Murrays. Both families share a friend by the name of Gerard. This Gerard is a wine taster and owns a villa in Spain.
Also, both families share the desperate need for a vacation. Chloe (the partner of Phillip Murray) is a dress designer who works under the stress of demanding brides and their mothers. Phillip Murray works in a bank and is in the sticky situation of possibly loosing his job. The Murray boys, Sam and Nat are excited to take a break and enjoy a swimming pool and games. Hugh Stratton works non-stop and barely knows his own two little girls (Beatrice and Octavia). Whereas his wife, Amanda is a busy stay at home mom who is desperate to perfect her already glowing tan.
However....Gerard books them both at his villa for the same week!!!!!!! The vacation doesn't start out too smoothly for the families. Both are very mad about the mistake. And....Hugh and Chloe are forced to look back 16 years at the time that they were dating. This booking mistake was quite coincidental! (or was it?)
I'll have to read more to discover the mystery, or lack of behind Gerard's "whoopsies"
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
THE END!
I just finished Three Days, and it was a good book. However, I don't think I would recommend it to anyone. It was relatively slow moving and just a very silly idea. (Being captured by a sweet family?)
At the end of the story, questions raised throughout the book were answered (fancy that!) The reason Claudia (the woman that Jackie took walks on the beach with) was being kept by the family was because there was a girl around Jackie's age that had died. The girl's name was Antonia and was very close to Claudia (her mother). The family replaced Antonia with Jackie.
In the last couple of scenes, Jackie is taken to Antonia's grave, and this is where Jackie understands the reason she was treated so well and kept at the home. She sees through the family's tears that this girl was very important to them.
Jackie also is taken to the train station by Claudia. In other words, she is released to go back home. Jackie takes out a picture of her mom and tells the photograph not to worry, and that she'll be home soon. Then, she sits back and waits for the train to make it to the airport.
This is the most unrealistic story EVER!
At the end of the story, questions raised throughout the book were answered (fancy that!) The reason Claudia (the woman that Jackie took walks on the beach with) was being kept by the family was because there was a girl around Jackie's age that had died. The girl's name was Antonia and was very close to Claudia (her mother). The family replaced Antonia with Jackie.
In the last couple of scenes, Jackie is taken to Antonia's grave, and this is where Jackie understands the reason she was treated so well and kept at the home. She sees through the family's tears that this girl was very important to them.
Jackie also is taken to the train station by Claudia. In other words, she is released to go back home. Jackie takes out a picture of her mom and tells the photograph not to worry, and that she'll be home soon. Then, she sits back and waits for the train to make it to the airport.
This is the most unrealistic story EVER!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Jackie is now fully moved into the house of the Italian family. The two men (who she has discovered are the sons of the woman at the house) are rarely home. However, the mother stays at the house full time and takes care of Jackie like Jackie was her daughter. Believe it or not, Jackie isn't as scared as she was at the beginning of this strange experience. The mother draws Jackie's bath and the two go on walks along the shore near their home. Jackie is very aware of the fact that the family has a story, or something to tell her, but she just can't seem to grasp what it is that they want!
Honestly, this is a very very slow moving book and it contains a lot of day to day details. Like the fact that the lasagna smelled delicious mixed with the basil growing in the clay pots outside. And that the sun warmed her fingers while she watched the woman in the kitchen. (the woman being mother). Then, the book goes into detail on how the mother carefully puts layers of pasta, cheese, and white sauce with fresh herbs in order, and then repeats the process multiple times. It can get VERY slow and quite boring, but somehow the story keeps you hooked. You just HAVE to know what will happen in this BEYOND strange story!!!
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