Patrick Stewart Puts a Bold Face on Intergenerational PTSD.

Patrick Stewart, the actor who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” recently made the news not for his acting chops but rather for the way he answered a question from a fan. Stewart was participating in a Q&A when a young woman asked him about his work with Amnesty International and violence against women. His answer was compassionate and thoughtful.

He spoke about his role in an organization called Refuge, which provides safe houses for women and children. He also spoke about his work with a group called Combat Stress. His involvement was born of personal experience. Stewart’s father was a World War II Veteran, fighting with the British Expeditionary Force in France. He returned home with what was then called shell shock. Like many returning combat veterans, the elder Stewart was told to get a grip, to get on with life. Violence became the norm in the Stewart household.

As Patrick Stewart told the audience, the police and ambulance drivers would often tell his mother that she must have done something to provoke the violence, or, that it takes two to have an argument. Not true. What is true is that Stewart’s father suffered from PTSD and that because of that, the entire Stewart family suffered.

That Stewart took time to answer the question was important. It highlights again that the effects of war are long lasting. Not all combat veterans suffer from PTSD, but some do and it is incumbent upon us as a society to have systems in place to help the wounded warrior.

We see older Veterans getting help for the first time. Older people comprise a growing proportion of the population and while the majority of older adults are well, there are an increasing number feeling the re-emergence of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Memories of earlier trauma can be more challenging for the older adult. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, this is in part because of retirement, increased health problems, reduced income, loss of loved ones and decreased social support.

As I wrote in an earlier post there are more books, nonfiction and fiction, that explore war’s effect on children. These works show that when one person goes to war, that person’s entire inner circle is affected.

Here is a short list of compelling reads:

Tim O’Brien: “The Things They Carried.”

Brian Castner: “A Long Walk: The Story of War and the Life that Follows”

Christal Presley: “Thirty Days with My Father: Finding Peace from Wartime PTSD”

Leila Levinson: “Gated Grief: The Daughter of a GI Concentration Camp Liberator Discovers a Legacy of Trauma.”

Carol Tyler: 3 part graphic memoir: “You’ll Never Know”

Cathy Crimmins: “Where is the Mango Princess?”

Erin Celello: “Learning to Stay”

Michael Herr’s “Dispatches.”