Help for military spouses dealing with PTSD

Author Shawn Gourley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Shawn Gourley has written a new book titled “Being A Military Spouse: Stand By Your Soldier” to spread awareness of spouses dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  It will give an understanding of what it is like living with a veteran who has PTSD through her personal experience.

The book is expected to be released on September 10, 2010 on her Facebook fan page Military with PTSD. Fans will get a free copy as a digital download.

In this book you will find Shawn’s fight to save her husband and family from PTSD. Through her story, you will feel her struggles and pain when dealing with a loved one who suffers from PTSD. Gourley shows the symptoms of PTSD that her husband was experiencing, and the struggle to get help for it. This book will provide hope and understanding to many families.

Many books have been written where an individual veteran tells his story, but Gourley tells her own story in this book. She goes into great detail about the hell her family was living in. By hearing this story, spouses and families learn they are not alone, and they learn how she dealt with the trauma they are experiencing. Her story also will help loved ones understand what her husband has experienced and why those experiences have resulted in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Honesty is a great strength of “Being A Military Spouse: Stand By Your Soldier.” Gourley is completely honest and tells all in her story. She allows her husband’s military experience to be told as she highlights points showing her husband’s changing attitude as events were happening. Then she tells her story as the wife of a veteran, focusing particularly on her husband’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how she and her children coped with it for almost 5 years before they realized what caused her husband’s anger and irrational behavior. Many books have been written about PTSD and many veterans have recounted their stories, but Gourley is the first author I know to tell the story from the spouses point of view; consequently, her book will help many families recognize that their loved one suffers from PTSD, and family members will find they are not alone in how the disorder has affected their families.

Beyond telling her own story, Gourley goes a step further; she includes the frighting story of her daughter who developed secondary PTSD. Many family members develop secondary PTSD as a result of walking on eggshells around their loved one, never knowing what might set the veteran off. As Gourley shows how everything is a crisis with PTSD. Somehow it is all connected with the war and survival. Something as simple as startling a veteran can make him go into survival mode and become violent, or he may be irritable over something as small as the noise from something accidentally falling. Family members begin to live in fear of setting off the veteran’s anger, which makes them develop secondary PTSD.

“Being A Military Spouse: Stand By Your Soldier” stands out among books about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because it is written for both veterans and their families. Anyone who served in a war or who has a loved one who served will find it helpful and eye opening. Gourley has succeeded in opening up communication in families and restoring hope and understanding where before there was confusion and despair. “Being A Military Spouse: Stand By Your Soldier” may help many spouses and families deal with PTSD instead of leaving.

See What I'm Saying, Deaf Entertainers Documentary will be in mainstream theaters starting April 9th

This inspirational and heartfelt documentary follows four well-known entertainers in the deaf community: a comic, a drummer, an actor and a singer as they attempt to cross over to mainstream audiences. These uniquely talented deaf entertainers overcome great challenges on their way to personal triumphs and professional success

Starring:

Bob Hiltermann,  a drummer in the world’s only deaf rock band, Beethoven’s Nightmare, produces the largest show in the band’s 30 year history.

CJ Jones, a hugely famous and internationally renowned comic in the Deaf world, but virtually unknown to hearing audiences, fights to, cross over to the mainstream by producing the first international sign language theater festival in Los Angeles.

Robert DeMayo, a brilliant actor who teaches at Juilliard, struggles to survive when he becomes homeless while living with HIV.

TL Forsberg, a hard of hearing, singer finds herself caught between the hearing and deaf communities when she attracts her first major producer to record her first CD “Not Deaf Enough.” Chronicled with rare intimacy and candor,  See What I'm Saying: The Deaf Entertainer's Documentary is the first open captioned* commercial film in American history. At the same time it opens the door to deaf culture, allowing the sign language in the film to be accessible to all audiences.

With humor and emotion, director Hilari Scarl captures the many obstacles these performers face daily.

*Definition: Open Captions The term “Open Captions” is used when text is burned-in on the picture,  similar to, subtitles for foreign films. Open captions also includes audio descriptors and non-speech, information that assist deaf audiences,  such as [phone rings] or a musical note symbol to, indicate song lyrics or background music. Open captions are part of the film and can’t be, turned off,  unlike closed captions which can be turned on and off with a decoder. Captions for SEE WHAT I’M SAYING were generously funded by Microsoft.



Mainstream Theater Booking Dates

April 9 - April 15              Mesa, AZ - Harkins Superstition Springs 25


April 9 - April 15              Peoria, AZ - Harkins Arrowhead Fountains 18


April 9 - April 11              Phoenix, AZ - Harkins Christown 14


April 9 - April 11              Denver, CO - Harkins Northfield 18


April 9 - April 11              Chino Hills, CA - Harkins Chino Hills 18


April 16 - April 18            Las Vegas, NV - Century 16 Suncoast


April 16 - April 18            Dallas, TX - Cinemark 17 & Imax Theatre


April 16 - April 18            Abilene, TX - Century Abilene 12


April 16 - April 18            Austin, TX - Tinseltown 17


April 16 - April 18            Elgin, IL - Marcus Elgin Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Gurnee, IL - Marcus Gurnee Cinema


April 16 - April 19            Addison, IL - Marcus Addison Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Oakdale, MN - Marcus Oakdale Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Columbus, OH - Marcus Crosswoods Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Pickering, OH - Marcus Pickerington Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Ashwaubenon, WI - Marcus Bay Park Cinema - Green Bay


April 16 - April 18            Appleton, WI - Marcus Hollywood Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Brookfield, WI - Marcus Majestic Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Menonomee Falls, WI - Marcus Menomonee Falls Cinema


April 16 - April 18            Sturtevant, WI - Renaissance Cinema - Sturtevant


April 16 - April 18            New Berlin, WI - Marcus Ridge Cinema - New Berlin


April 16 - April 18            Saukville, WI - Marcus Saukville Cinema


April 16 - April 19            Madison, WI - Marcus Eastgate Cinema


October 13, 2010 Chico, CA - Focus Film Festival - OPENING NIGHT FILM  Director and special guests will be in attendance



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Mercy Medical Center hosts program about Service Dogs for children with diabetes

Want to learn more about how Service and Assistance Dogs can be trained to help kids with diabetes? Mercy Medical Center in Canton, OH will host a special program titled "Understanding Diabetes and the Role of an Alert Service Dog" from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17, at the hospital's Ambulatory Care Center Auditorium.

Diabetes alert service dogs are trained to identify the onset of hypoglycemia in people with insulin-dependent diabetes.

Sandy Finlayson, her six-year-old son Curtis, and their yellow laborador Taulb will be the special guests.

Diabetes, a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, affects approximately 21 million children and adults in the United States, according to the American Diabetes Association. Mercy's Outpatient Diabetes Education Program offers free adult and pediatric support groups, individual instruction from a nurse and dietitian, group class education and community events including an annual diabetes awareness health fair. Diabetes support groups offer men, women and children living with diabetes and their family members a supportive environment to learn more about how to manage the disease and cope with everyday issues.

Mercy's Diabetes Support Groups are free, but reservations are required. For more information or reservations, please call Mercy's Healthcare Connection at 330-489-1333 or 1-800-223-8662.

For more information about Mercy Outpatient Diabetes Education, call Debra Shaw, RN, BSN, CDE, diabetes education coordinator, at 330-489-1484.

Mercy Medical Center, a nonprofit corporation of the Sisters of Charity Health System and University Hospitals Health System, operates a 476-bed hospital serving Stark, Carroll, Wayne, Holmes and Tuscarawas Counties and parts of Southeastern Ohio. It has 550 physicians on its Medical Staff and employs 2,500 people. Mercy operates outpatient health centers in Carrollton, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Louisville, North Canton, Plain Township and Tuscarawas County. A Catholic hospital, Mercy Medical Center upholds the mission and philosophy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and continues to be responsive to the needs of the community, including the provision of care to all, regardless of their ability to pay.

You can also follow Mercy Medical Center on Twitter @SOCHealthSystem