Tag Archives: PTSD

Got a Problem? Call a Poet

By Robin Bates | Published: October 8, 2023

Tragedy, it turns out, is a powerful literary form for dealing with posttraumatic fear.

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How Vonnegut Faced His Demons

By Robin Bates | Published: April 3, 2019

Thursday To honor the 50th anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, I am reposting an essay about how Vonnegut used science fiction to come to terms with the Battle of the Bulge and the Dresden bombing, both of which he experienced first-hand. I owe the ideas to student Chris Hammond, who devoted his senior project […]

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Lit for Survivors Lost in a Dark Wood

By Robin Bates | Published: January 28, 2018

Monday Commonweal recently published a heartfelt article by West Point visiting English professor Cassandra Nelson on how literature can help trauma survivors recover. Nelson begins with an angry comment about a University of Chicago dean’s facile dismissal of  trigger warnings, even though she herself opposes them. She, however, speaks from the vantage point of one […]

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Solace for Vets from Sophocles

By Robin Bates | Published: September 13, 2016

A group has been giving dramatic readings of Sophocles plays in order to reach veterans suffering from PTSD. The results have been astonishing.

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Vonnegut’s Sci Fi Says the Unsayable

By Robin Bates | Published: May 6, 2014

Yesterday I spent all day—from 9 am to 6 pm with occasional breaks—listening to our English majors present their senior projects. That I was energized rather than drained by the experience testifies to the strength of the talks. In today’s post I report on my student Chris Hammond’s essay on Kurt Vonnegut’s use of science […]

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Vonnegut’s Sci Fi, a Response to PTSD

By Robin Bates | Published: November 25, 2013

Kurt Vonnegut’s science fiction can be seen as a way of coping with his PTSD.

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Tolstoyan Therapy for Mental Illness

By Robin Bates | Published: July 18, 2013

Guest poster Lucy Fuggle explains how Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” helped her cope with her PTSD.

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Author PTSD Led to Billy Pilgrim, Holden

By Robin Bates | Published: May 29, 2012

It can be argued that “Slaughterhouse Five” and “Catcher in the Rye” were both shaped by their authors suffering from PTSD.

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