Cossack,

I surely hope so. However, I think some of your problem may be that you worked with Greta for so long. Just a thought.

M&tPH

Cossack--

I thought you were Roger Cossack, former partner of Greta Van Sustren...maybe, however, you're not Roger and in fact are a Cossack, which would be a different thing entirely.

M

Dear Injured Faculty Members:

Since you were injured on the job, Workers Comp will be forced to pay for your rehab.  If, after extensive therapy, you are unable to hold another job, you then apply for permanent disability.  We are expecting so many claims that we have ordered thousands of extra forms to be filled out by the injured party.  We are adding people to help process all the claims.  In fact, we are setting up a branch on the campus because we do not want injured people attempting to drive to the nearest claims office.  Please contact us for a convenient location near you.

Workers Comp R US

Dear Grant Writers:

 Someone who can still hold a pen steady enough to sign one's name, please  write a grant to obtain Federal Funds for the massive rehabilitation of an entire group of people. Maybe the Ford Foundation will fund an adult day care facility where we can all go and listen to music by Elvis and Chubby Checker. 

As you can see, I am already on the case.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

The Americans with Disabilities ( Emotional abuse qualifies)

Mel, I only have a 20 gauge. Will they let a person with my level of post-traumatic stress carry a gun, and if so can I keep more than 3 in the magazine?

Cossack--

I wouldn't recommend that movie, by the way, given your current mental state. It might drive you over the edge. Or further over the edge, whichever the case may be.

M

PTSD is very real.  Nothing about it is funny.  Guys, it wouldn't be any different than if you made fun of cancer.  Please don't go any further with this discussion. 

I'm one of your strongest allies, and I beg you to cease this line of merriment-making about a very difficult mental illness.

From webmd.com:
"It [PTSD] can cause flashbacks, sleep problems and nightmares, feelings of isolation, guilt, paranoia, and sometimes panic attacks."

While PTSD is usually associated with a violent incident, PTSD has been diagnosed in other instances, some of which have no link to violence. In my non-psychiatric opinion, many folks on the Southern Miss campus have survived very traumatic incidents. They have had (or have had reason to believe that) their phones and email were "bugged." They have seen termination proceedings brought against colleagues without cause. They have been uprooted, lambasted, mentally beaten down, and have had their worlds flipped by a psychotic president who just doesn't seem to care about the uncertainty he foists upon them. They have seen members of the university community locked out of offices with computers and files confiscated -- hours, weeks, possibly even years of work held hostage. They have had to make alternative plans for everything they do on a daily basis. They have seen colleagues, long-time friends, leave Southern Miss because of the upheaval. The ones who have been left behind are now just fewer fish in a smaller barrel, and Thames has a gun with which to shoot them if he so desires.

For these and many more reasons, I can vouch that many faculty and staff may be depressed and may even be suffering from some form of PTSD. Sleep problems, nightmares, feelings of isolation and guilt, and paranoia are no strangers to these people. "It's no big deal," you may say. It IS a big deal. This is not some extracurricular activity or club that one can do without. This is the faculty's lives, their careers, their passions, all being torn down right in front of their eyes, and they are standing helpless, having asked, cried, and begged for help from the only source of relief--the IHL.

PTSD isn't funny, but the situation at USM isn't funny, either. If a few of these people get on this board and get some relief through venting, ranting, raving, arguing, or even trying to make light of their own issues, then why in the hell do you have to come on this board and chastise them for it? They didn't send you an email saying "Ha, ha! You have PTSD! Isn't that funny!"

This board is the only place where many of these faculty members can "gather" and have this type of anonymous relief...they certainly can't do it at work without fear of retribution. They keep their problems out of the classroom so that students are affected as little as possible. Thanks for playing one more "political correctness" card in an effort to push a little more guilt onto a group that has, at present, no hope that their situation will improve in the foreseeable future.

I'm sure they'll quit their insensitive exchange, because that's the kind of people they are. They haven't lost all sense of decency or responsible behavior. They've just lost one more little corner or the world that they can call their own.

If you think that I was kidding about it - you are so wrong. The world of my clients have gone through that. Read the court cases, and you'll know this was not said in jest.

Point well made, LVN. I wasn't making light of PTSD at all in my post, just pointing out that Cossack's original assertion (however lighthearted) that there will be this type of fallout from the experience is correct. Your corollary fits well.

What non-USM people don't understand is that if you try to talk to someone (a friend, for instance) at another university about our problems, they inevitably think you're embellishing or downright crazy -- this stuff just doesn't happen anywhere else in the academic world. They think you're paranoid, and that only adds to your paranoia and depression.

The State of Mississippi will have a large burden to bear when this is all over with respect to health care for those "injured" by Thames' negligence and cruelty.

quote:

---

Originally posted by: East of the Rock, West of the Hard Place
"From webmd.com: "It [PTSD] can cause flashbacks, sleep problems and nightmares, feelings of isolation, guilt, paranoia, and sometimes panic attacks." While PTSD is usually associated with a violent incident, PTSD has been diagnosed in other instances, some of which have no link to violence. In my non-psychiatric opinion, many folks on the Southern Miss campus have survived very traumatic incidents. They have had (or have had reason to believe that) their phones and email were "bugged." They have seen termination proceedings brought against colleagues without cause. They have been uprooted, lambasted, mentally beaten down, and have had their worlds flipped by a psychotic president who just doesn't seem to care about the uncertainty he foists upon them. They have seen members of the university community locked out of offices with computers and files confiscated -- hours, weeks, possibly even years of work held hostage. They have had to make alternative plans for everything they do on a daily basis. They have seen colleagues, long-time friends, leave Southern Miss because of the upheaval. The ones who have been left behind are now just fewer fish in a smaller barrel, and Thames has a gun with which to shoot them if he so desires. For these and many more reasons, I can vouch that many faculty and staff may be depressed and may even be suffering from some form of PTSD. Sleep problems, nightmares, feelings of isolation and guilt, and paranoia are no strangers to these people. "It's no big deal," you may say. It IS a big deal. This is not some extracurricular activity or club that one can do without. This is the faculty's lives, their careers, their passions, all being torn down right in front of their eyes, and they are standing helpless, having asked, cried, and begged for help from the only source of relief--the IHL. PTSD isn't funny, but the situation at USM isn't funny, either. If a few of these people get on this board and get some relief through venting, ranting, raving, arguing, or even trying to make light of their own issues, then why in the hell do you have to come on this board and chastise them for it? They didn't send you an email saying "Ha, ha! You have PTSD! Isn't that funny!" This board is the only place where many of these faculty members can "gather" and have this type of anonymous relief...they certainly can't do it at work without fear of retribution. They keep their problems out of the classroom so that students are affected as little as possible. Thanks for playing one more "political correctness" card in an effort to push a little more guilt onto a group that has, at present, no hope that their situation will improve in the foreseeable future. I'm sure they'll quit their insensitive exchange, because that's the kind of people they are. They haven't lost all sense of decency or responsible behavior. They've just lost one more little corner or the world that they can call their own."

---

There is no comparison between true PTSD and the pseudo-version you propone.

And, by the way, you are aware that the faculty togetherness that is found on the AAUP board has its roots in the Fire Shelby website, which was begun and maintained by a student and which was a communication hub for students, too.

There are many people on this board who aren't faculty at USM.  Again, I respectfully request that you please quit making light of PTSD.  You never know who you are alienating when you joke about a condition as serious as this. 

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by: PTSD Survivor
"
There is no comparison between true PTSD and the pseudo-version you propone.
And, by the way, you are aware that the faculty togetherness that is found on the AAUP board has its roots in the Fire Shelby website, which was begun and maintained by a student and which was a communication hub for students, too.
There are many people on this board who aren't faculty at USM.  Again, I respectfully request that you please quit making light of PTSD.  You never know who you are alienating when you joke about a condition as serious as this. 
 "

---

It is clear to me that you do have a serious problem: the inability to read. You quote me and then say I'm making light of it. I'm not. You, however, are continuing a thread that has been without a light-hearted PTSD comment for well over 3 hours.

I take nothing that anyone has said on this board seriously. What I take seriously is the results,  both physically, emotionally, and mentally, of the pain that SFT and Cronies caused to me. Yes, I've sued all parties for this trauma, and it is real. However, when people joke about it on the board, I'm smart enough to recognize the context and join along. It does not diminish what I feel that SFT and Gestapo have done to me. You'll be reading about it in the latest papers who want to tell the truth. But I wouldn't tell the MB to leave that area alone - they have full access to it, and I don't believe in complete political correctness. Enjoy!

quote:

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Originally posted by: PTSD Survivor
" If you can "join along" in joking about PTSD, then I would wager that you've never really had it.  Can you define "complete political correctness" for me, while we are discussing this topic, and enlighten me on how my objections to joking about a disease here have anything to do with "political correctness?" I'm not exactly a moron.  I caught your subtle insults of me in your post.  If you really do have PTSD, then perhaps your ability to hire a lawyer and sue SFT have brought some closure to you and your condition.  In the meantime, you should abstain from joking about a disorder with which many people steal contend."

---

Make that "still contend."

Will get off the Board right now. Shouldn't have intruded. Feel scared and don't have a voice. Night. Meant no harm.