What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do and...

[Wynne G Oldman]

When I was a small child, I would go to the local park with my grandparents. They used to play bowls, and a bloke that used to sit with them would constantly be shaking. He used to sit there, get a cigarette out of the packet, light it, put it out, put it back in the packet, then get it out and light it again etc. When I asked my grandmother what was wrong with him, she told me that he was shell shocked from WW1. This was in the early 1970's. In WW1, they used to shoot people who were shell shocked, because they thought that they were feigning it, to get away from the front line. I can't believe that someone would keep up that pretence for all those years.

[live_to_ride]

Survival! And fear! Not so long ago mental health patients also had forced lobotomies. Again, fear and misunderstanding. Often what we know little of illicits the strongest response. The brain is a magnificent organ but in some ways little understood when it comes to emotional impact, memory retention, coping mechanisms, etc. what was once called shell shock is now known as PTSD. This condition is as old as time.

Some ppl can face the trauma thus deal with it. Others, such as emergency personnel may not have the same luxury. Day after day they face unkn emergencies. Only way to do the job is to set aside the emotional content but in time, these incidents pile up. One day the fortified coping walls implode. Everyone has their limit. What wld help is more education and understanding public.