Excerpts from Elephant Journal piece.
"How come when I googled “PTSD” a few weeks back, this is what I got?
Where are the women?
The children?
The civilian men with PTSD?
The missing images are striking—and troubling, considering the facts: “Women are more than twice as likely to develop PTSD than men (10% for women and 4% for men).” ~ Department of Veteran’s Affairs
Twice as likely—but looking at the search images, one might think women don’t get post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at all."
"I get that the “collective we” has to change, if we don’t like what we see reflected. We can do it.
The #FacesOfPTSD campaign will run starting on May 6th.
The singular mission is sharing images of those impacted with PTSD from all causes—not just war.
We know, as Arwen Faulkner said, “Not all wars take place on a battlefield.”
We can upgrade dated and dangerous the “operating systems” dismissing our experiences and lives, so the search engine results start to reflect our reality.
There is no singular image of PTSD.
PTSD isn’t a he.
PTSD impacts women, men and children.
The causes, like the faces, are varied.
Join if you wish—use updated images in articles, blogs, websites and media and captured by search engines.
Tag posts with “PTSD” when writing about trauma, domestic violence, sexual assault, childhood abuse and adversity, accidents and disasters so the search engines locate us.
Share articles like those written by other women identifying themselves as trauma survivors coming out and sharing words and images, such as Dawn Daum who is a part of this campaign.
Share your photo on our social media campaign page. We can change Google, Bing and Yahoo by harnessing the new power of social media to do old-school grassroots organizing.
- Share a picture of yourself with the hashtag #FacesOfPTSD (as adult or kid or whatever)
- Share one of the images posted by someone else.
We can use the power of sharing for good—sharing pictures and information.
It’s time to recognize all the faces of PTSD."
Note: Individuals and organizations can join or support. This is a collaborative effort and requires no money. We simply want to circulate more photos of people with PTSD. You are invited to join, support or participate.
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