{"id":135750,"date":"2019-03-20T14:36:38","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T18:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featureshoot.com\/?p=135750"},"modified":"2019-12-07T16:56:16","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T21:56:16","slug":"picturing-ptsd-the-invisible-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.featureshoot.com\/2019\/03\/picturing-ptsd-the-invisible-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"Picturing PTSD, the Invisible Enemy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Derek and Phoenix
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Ken
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Hebert
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Nearly two decades into the Afghanistan War, the death toll mounts in a battle on the home front. Every day in the United States, 22 veterans commit suicide, falling victim to an invisible killer: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n

PTSD is a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock, typically involving constant vivid recall of the experience, with dulled\u00a0responses to the outside world. Once triggered, the mind becomes a harrowing trap where scenes of trauma replay themselves long after they occurred.<\/p>\n

Recognizing the epidemic destroying the lives of veterans and their families, Susan J. Barron<\/a> realized her duty to give them a voice in her powerful portrait series Depicting the Invisible: A Portrait Series of Veterans Suffering from PTSD<\/em>, now on view at\u00a0 The Army and Navy Club<\/a> in Washington DC through April 15, 2019.<\/p>\n

Here Barron shares the stories of veterans fighting against the enemy within the gates, a trauma that is sometimes amplified for women soldiers by the horrific betrayal of their male comrades who sexually assault them with impunity.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Rusty
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Did you have any preconceived ideas or beliefs about the nature of PTSD that your experiences on the project helped to revise, expand, or dissolve?<\/strong>
\n“I didn\u2019t know anything about PTSD when I began this project, but this is what I have learned: PTSD hijacks your mind. The flashbacks can take you from a fourth of July fireworks show in Miami, right back to the battlefields of Afghanistan in an instant. The flashbacks are not a memory or an imagination; you actually believe you are back there in the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cRusty Carter explained to me that he saw people in windows shooting down at him. He knows that probably couldn\u2019t be happening, but he is seeing it and hearing it and smelling it and so he tries to run for cover in his wheel chair because it is so real.<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterans with PTSD also all suffer from periods of what has been described to me as \u2018a depression so hopeless, so black, so bottomless that it feels there is no return.\u2019 There was not one veteran diagnosed with PTSD that I met with that did not contemplate suicide at one time or another.<\/p>\n

“Another commonality are the nightmares that make you believe that you are back in the war. When Derek Butler returned from Iraq, he had this one recurring nightmare; he had to watch his buddy die in his lap. He was afraid to go to sleep because of these night terrors. He now has a service dog that is trained to wake him up from his nightmares.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that PTSD is not a \u2018disorder.’ It is a normal response to seeing and doing things that no one should ever have to see or do. The veterans in my series have told me that they prefer Post Traumatic Stress PTS or Post Traumatic Stress Injury PTSI. They do not feel it is accurate to label them with a disorder, and I agree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Josh and Emma
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

How did working on this project provide veterans with a space to mediate their experiences and their identity through story and portraiture?<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe invisible wounds of war can be just as devastating as the visible wounds, but it is difficult to get empathy or help for an injury you can\u2019t see. The telling of these stories has fostered a greater understanding of PTSD even between the veterans and their own families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wife of one veteran told me that her children learned so much about their father through his portrait, both what he experienced in the war and what he experiences in his ongoing battle with PTSD. They also saw they were not the only ones with a dad with PTSD.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpc Josh Sandors\u2019 wife told me the painting was a gift for her infant daughter, because when she grew up it would explain her father. Veterans want their stories told. As Sgt Mike Burke said, \u2018If we don\u2019t talk about PTSD, we can\u2019t save lives.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the gallery, a young veteran who was diagnosed with PTSD slowly walked through the exhibit carefully reading each work. He came up to me and said, \u2018These are all portraits of me.\u2019 He said he was feeling suicidal that very morning and he heard about the gallery show on the radio and decided to come down.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had no idea there were so many people going through what he was going through. I introduced him to Freedom Fighters Outdoors, an amazing organization helping veterans with PTSD. The gallery owner said to me, \u2018I just saw art save a life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Craig
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Sergeant Mike Burke said, \u201cThey tell you, \u2018Don\u2019t be the broken soldier.\u2019 The reality is you can\u2019t be fixed.\u201d Could you speak about what you observed about the treatment soldiers receive for PTSD?<\/strong>
\n“As Sgt Rusty Carter told me, \u2018The biggest problem I see is the VA gives out opioids like it’s their job. Guys get hooked on opioids by the VA, get discharged, lose their meds, start using heroin, and OD. It’s a shame to see vets make it through the hell of war and then die at home because they are set up to fail by the VA.\u2019 Opioids are not the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest truth that I have learned is that there is no cure for PTSD. At least not yet. Many veterans are left to find their own path to managing their PTSD, and it is a problem they will live with for the rest of their lives. The most recent addition to my portrait series is Charles \u2018Chuck\u201d Newhall lll, a Vietnam veteran who has been struggling with PTSD for over 50 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany veterans tell me that a combat veteran’s mind can be their own worst enemy, and that the trick is to keep busy. The quiet times are when your mind goes to that dark place. Have a hobby, something you love to do, and don\u2019t stop. When Emma was born, Spc Josh Sandor told me that a baby is a beautiful distraction. When you are changing a diaper, you are not thinking about ambushes and rocket attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Damon
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

What was the most challenging aspect of work on this project?<\/strong>
\n“One of the veterans in my portrait series is Damon Zeigler. Damon walked with such grace in the face of such trauma. His right foot was sheared off in a truck accident. He said to me, \u2018Look at Stephen Hawking, look at the contributions he can still make.\u2019 He was searching for healing in such high-minded ways such as Yoga and Buddhism. He\u2019d been a peer mentor to over 100 vets and said helping others was his therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cShortly before the opening of Depicting the Invisible<\/em> at the HG Contemporary Gallery in New York City, I received a call from Damon\u2019s mother saying that Damon had died. His suicide was the single most devastating aspect of this project for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to find honor Damon, so I dedicated \u2018A Table for the Fallen\u2019 to him. \u2018A Table for the Fallen\u2019 is an interactive art piece where we set a dining table for one person, and invite visitors to have a seat and honor a soldier they have lost, either KIA, or from losing their battle at home with PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Rena
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

What was the most surprising aspect of working on this project?<\/strong>
\n\u201cI was not prepared for the response I got from female veterans. Many female veterans were very forthcoming in sharing their stories with me but did not want to share them publicly. Women veterans with PTSD have different issues than men with PTSD; frankly MSA \u2014 military sexual assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cSgt Rena A Trotter is the only woman in the Depicting the Invisible<\/em> portrait series. She is incredibly brave to have come forward with her story of being raped by a star soldier. She said, \u2018Who is going to believe me? If my best friend doesn\u2019t believe me then who will?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was then deployed with her rapist. She was sworn to do her duty as a medic but could not bear to have to save the man who raped her. She said, \u2018The worst thing about our society is that people don\u2019t believe women when they come forward. Why would we make up something so bad about ourselves?\u2019 Of course they\u2019re not lying.<\/p>\n

\u201cRena\u2019s story is the intersection of military sexual assault and the #metoo movement. Many women veterans told me their similar stories, but the stigma of being a rape victim is so powerful in the military that these women would not go public with their stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese women also suffer the same PTSD from being in combat that men do, but then they have this extra layer of sexual trauma. It is a lot to carry with you. Many told me I was the first person they ever told about their rape. Their husbands don\u2019t know, their mothers don\u2019t know. Rena wants her portrait to inspire other women to come forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Mike and Bird<\/em><\/p>\n

What would you like the public at large to understand about the nature of PTSD through this work?<\/strong>
\n\u201cI believe that art has the potential to affect social change. Ultimately these works are about making a human connection. I hope this work inspires empathy and understanding around the difficult issues of PTSD and inspires people to step up and make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so grateful to the veterans who so graciously trusted me with their stories. I wanted to find a way to use these stories to give back. An art book of the portrait series has been published. All the proceeds of the first edition of Depicting The Invisible: A Portrait Series Of Veterans Suffering from PTSD<\/a><\/em> went to Freedom Fighters Outdoors, an amazing organization helping veterans with PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Mike
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Kele
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Bird<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Brian<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DTI Joe
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

All images: \u00a9Susan J. Barron<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DTI Derek and Phoenix DTI Ken DTI Hebert Nearly two decades into the Afghanistan War, the death toll mounts in a battle on the home front. 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May is Mental Health Month, so this year,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Documentary"","block_context":{"text":"Documentary","link":"https:\/\/www.featureshoot.com\/category\/documentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.featureshoot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Laura_Hospes_02.jpg?fit=620%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.featureshoot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Laura_Hospes_02.jpg?fit=620%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.featureshoot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Laura_Hospes_02.jpg?fit=620%2C413&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137841,"url":"https:\/\/www.featureshoot.com\/2019\/09\/war-veterans-who-have-found-peace-and-healing-in-vietnam\/","url_meta":{"origin":135750,"position":1},"title":"War Veterans Who Have Found Peace and Healing in Vietnam","author":"Miss Rosen","date":"September 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On July 21, 1954, Vietnam was split, the fractured nation a pawn of the Cold War. 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