[siljie]

I feel like I've been posting for answers more than I've been giving them, blah. /: But anyhoo, I was wondering if anyone knew any celebrities or famous persons who lived/live with PTSD. I've looked everywhere and have found nothing official. I don't know, I suppose it would just give me a little hope, to know that they kept on living and accomplished great things despite such a suffocating illness.

[Open Eyes]

Well, Siljie, I am sure there are celebrities that have had PTSD and still maintained a life.
I have watched the Bio Channel on TV and it is pretty interesting to learn that the beautiful people we think we know, even comedians did not have picture perfect lives.

Personally, though I do not think it has ever been mentioned, I believe that Michael Jackson suffered from it for many years.

Open Eyes

[meadowsweet]

I dont know if he has ptsd...but the singer James Blunt I think has written songs related to ptsd. Hes an ex army officer..and is well worth a listen.

[skeksi]

Darrell Hammond has been talking publicly about his struggles with the trauma of child abuse. He's been talking about flashbacks, self-injury, dissociation, etc.

[Open Eyes]

I know that there are some that have come forward, that did suffer child abuse. Micheal Jackson has talked about some of his child abuse from his father. His sisters and brother have also talked about it as well. And I really think that Michael was not a sex abuser, I honestly think there is a strong possibility that he just felt more comfortable around children and felt like he could just be more himself, after all, he was pretty much denied a normal childhood. And his constant desire to alter his appearance and not be satisfied with his appearrance is also another sign of low self esteem. Many entertainers that are really gifted on stage are actually very shy in real life and otherwise have very low self esteem. Billy Joel was a very troubled young man, so was Elton John. And in their day, there really wasn't much known about PTSD so that could be a part of it. Many of the stars are in therapy and talk about disfunctional families growing up.

I don't know if your going to find anything official yet. To be honest PTSD is really a fairly newly recognized diagnosis, they are still studying it yet. I sought therapy a couple of times as late as 15 years ago and I raised all the red flags and it was never mentioned to me, I never even heard of it.
So it is really being studied a lot more now than ever before. I wish I had known way back when, it may have helped me see things better and done a better job at stopping abuse.

Open Eyes

actually just the name ptsd is new..it has been recognized as a battlefield disorder dating back to the civil war...combatants would talk of 'seeing the elephant" and then be shell shocked, battle fatigued etc....that was what we call ptsd...

it just wasn't as openly applied to others having to deal with issues as wide ranging as it is today.

so i would say that audie murphy, or any other famous vet had ptsd...read the book "flag of our fathers" if you want to read a story of how ptsd destroyed some of the men who raised the flag on iwo jima...

survivors guilt also would be ptsd...anyone who survived any major accident & received publicity over it would be a classic case..such as the rescuers involved in 9/11...maybe these aren't the type of famous people you are looking for but they also were in the media & have had to deal with the press in many instances along with their memories...& that is one of the most difficult situations there is. you want to be honest but yet feel the need to not be at the same time....

[siljie]

Thank you for all the responses! I'm going to keep researching, and it really isn't surprising that not much has been found. The ones that have spoken out are very very brave people to not smother themselves in the shame and fear regarding publicizing their illness which we all struggle with.

[Open Eyes]

In all honesty siljie, I really wish there was a good documentary on PTSD, not just for vets but people like us. If they did a good documentary, I could show my family how I suffer, because one of the hardest things about it is how others just don't understand how crippling it can be and how much support and understanding is needed.

Open Eyes

[CantExplain]

The cartoonist Ronald Searle spent four years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Singapore. I don't know if that counts.

[CantExplain]

Comedian Spike Milligan was shell-shocked in Italy in WWII and spent the rest of his life struggling with depression.

[Evening]

I agree with Open Eyes about Michael. I also do not think he was an abuser. My therapist, in discussing with me about my possible body dysmorphic disorder and adult child syndrome, said that he most likely had things, and there there are a lot of therapists who use him as an example. Being told he was ugly, not only by family but by fans when he became a teenager, being burned in the 80s and having a skin disorder that changed his appearance very drastically (and before anyone brings up the skin bleaching theory, it has actually been confirmed from his autopsy that he really did have the disease he said he had), what that would be like for a human being I can only imagine. It would be nice to know of a few celebrities who do have ptsd, that was just the first person that came to mind. Of course in having ptsd as we all know is something a sufferer is rarely about to share. But having someone famous come out would really bring it into the spotlight and create a bit more understanding.

[Open Eyes]

Thanks Evening, yes, I am sure that PTSD is not something anyone wants to admit to in public because it truely is so very misunderstood. I just wish it would come out more and as I mentioned a good documentary was avaliable explaining how very difficult it is and what it means to someone who truely struggles with it. I am tired of people in my family thinking that it is an excuse of somekind or that I am acting or something. That is what makes me want to just isolate and avoid people. There are days where I am so crippled by it and it is not a just get over it kind of illness. I don't like it, and I feel like a burden too.

Open Eyes

[likewater]

(((Open eyes))) why in the world would anyone pretend to have ptsd? Or playact being miserable and terrified? That is the most
ridiculous thing i've ever heard. What would the payoff be? It's great fun to be locked in psych ward? The joy of nightmares?

[likewater]

Oh i think one of my favorite musical artists Tori Amos has ptsd. You can hear it in some of her song lyrics. I think she has a foundation too for abuse survivors.

[likewater]

Yeah googled it. Tori amos created RAINN. I think it's for survivors and to prevent abuse too.