“When your great-grandparents grew up in Stalin’s terror-famine, your grandparents in the Holocaust, and your parents in a straddle between totalitarianism and democracy, you grew up confused about pain.”
trauma
Posted inEditor's Pick
No Way to Live
“As Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declares a state of emergency on housing, residents like Sarah Fay live on the brink of being unhoused.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
As the World Moves On, Veterans of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Struggle to Join Them
“‘I feel like I’m still there,’ a Marine told me. ‘I feel like everything that happened, happened five minutes ago.’” Reporting for Task & Purpose, Haley Britzky spoke to 15 soldiers, Marines, and airmen who were part of the Afghanistan withdrawal mission in August 2021. It’s a difficult read, but also a raw and visceral account […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Unseen Scars of Those Who Kill Via Remote Control
A devastating, well-reported story on the drone program of the U.S. Air Force and the lack of mental-health support for drone operators. Because they were not deployed, they seldom got the same recovery periods or mental-health screenings as other fighters. Instead they were treated as office workers, expected to show up for endless shifts in […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Coming Age of Climate Trauma
“What should a mental health response look like in the wake of a climate disaster? How can we better prepare communities for the moment when they are forced to confront climate change?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Can Tripping on Ketamine Cure PTSD? I Decided to Try.
“While the precise mechanism at play remains unknown, when ketamine is effective, it can be like flipping a switch.”
Posted inNonfiction
Getting Up When You Fall From the Sky
“Fear coursed through my veins. A horrible metallic taste, worse than bile, rose in my throat. The taste of terror.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Culture, Essays & Criticism, Highlight, Nonfiction, Writing
Loving Molly, and Mourning Her: A Husband’s Extraordinary Essay
Blake Butler writes movingly about his late wife, poet Molly Brodak.
Posted inCurrent Events, Featured, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘I Mostly Feel Like My Voice Matters’: A Portland Journalist on Protests, Police Violence, and Enduring Trauma
A reporter covering the protests in Portland reflects on fear and trauma, police violence, and her voice as a journalist.
Posted inEditor's Pick
I Know How to Cover a Portland Protest. So Why Am I Shaking?
Journalist Karina Brown, who’s covering the protests in Portland, writes a personal essay on trauma, sexual assault, and police violence.