Secondary PTSD.
…I’ve never heard of it before.
To be honest, I would personally call it something like pwecious snowflake PTSD, as it is not hte person who had the trauma, but their ‘loved one’ - I theoretically can have it because some family member of mine has been in a war zone and may have PTSD. [even the sight of a body part can cause primary PTSD, so theoretically mrAru working as an EMT and doing a body part search after an accident can have PTSD, and him having PTSD can cause me to have secondary PTSD for a body part I never even saw.:rolleyes:] If I eyerolled as much as I would like, my eyes would fall out of my head.
I figure it is because we treat everybody like the slightest hint of something nasty has obviously traumatized them and hurry to slam in the therapists to ‘counsel’ people at the slightest hint of anything happening. This would mean, frex not only does every survivor of Stalingrad have PTSD because of the Nazi seige, but pretty much every family member they have come into contact with after that unless they hurry up and get into therapy. :rolleyes:
Sorry if I have insulted any pwecious snowflake reading this, just get yourself some therapy and you will be fine. IMHO, secondary PTSD is headshrinkers drumming up business for themselves.
There certainly was. I’ve moved to Strasbourg which, as it turns out, is the final resting place of 86 people who has been earmarked to become the official Nazi skeleton collection. To be used to study what makes people inferior, of course. There is damning, chilling correspondence that relates to these people’s remains and whether they are to hide the existance of the ‘project’ or to continue to achieve the most ‘scientific value’.
Once you accept that the mindset existed, the idea of such items is almost comprehensible. Almost.
Consider the case of Burke and Hare- Burke was hanged and they have charming things such as a coroner’s note written in Burke’s blood, books and various etuis made from his skin and his skeleton on display. Establish that the person is subhuman and voila, one less moral hurdle.
In case anyone is interested, the National Geographic Channel will air Human Lampshade: A Holocaust Mystery next on October 6th at 10 AM. It premiered a few days ago, but I wasn’t able to catch it all then.
Don’t even need the subhuman angle. Check out the Hunterian Collection at the London College of Physicians & Surgeons - they still have on display numerous human specimins taken by John Hunter, including the “Irish Giant” - totally, it may be added, against his will (though after he died of natural causes). Hunter hired agents to follow the “Giant” around and keep tabs on him, waiting for him to die - and the “Giant” knew it, and arranged for his friends to bury him at sea - but Hunter got his body nonetheless. His skeleton is still hanging there like a trophy!
I watched that. It was very fascinating. I won’t spoil it, but DNA testing yielded some very surprising results.
I watched this a few evenings ago; I think the DNA testing might surprise a few people. I didn’t think the program was terribly interesting even though I did watch it.
Please spoil it in a spoiler box. I’ll not likey get a chance to see it …
A couple of things. First, I don’t think secondary PTSD is even an official diagnosis. Second, even if that’s true, your statement in this context looks very much like you’re trying to downplay the impact of the Holocaust on children of survivors. Calling it “PTSD” might be a misnomer, but the effects of generational trauma on entire societies have been pretty well documented. Remember, when you are a child, your parents’ worldview shapes yours. If a child has parents that believe that the world is inherently dangerous and without compassion, that is how the child will come to see the world. Not to mention the grief associated with having a person you love so frequently distorted by such a traumatic experience, and the knowledge that your people have a collective identity marked by oppression and cruelty.
I will now recommend (to evereyone) the excellent graphic novel “Maus” which does a fantastic job of explaining the issues that come with being related to a survivor of the Holocaust. It will crush your soul into tiny pieces, but you will be the better for it.
[spoiler]Mark Jacobson, who obtained the lampshade from a friend who found it in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, submitted the lampshade for DNA testing in 2007. The results indicated that it had human DNA and likely was made from human skin. He also had the steel ring of the lampshade tested and some threads from the stitching and found they were likely to have been made in the mid-1940s and were consistent with materials made in Germany in that time period.
However in 2011, he submitted the lampshade for more DNA testing by two different labs. DNA testing had advanced by then to the point where DNA could be extracted from deep within the lampshade material. The results from both labs agreed with about 99% certainty that the lampshade was made from bovine, or cowhide and that the earlier findings of human DNA were cross contamination from many people handling the lampshade.[/spoiler]