Ilona Meagher of Caledonia, a journalism student at Northern Illinois University, wrote the book “Moving A Nation To Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America’s Returning Troops.” Meagher also maintains a blog and database of post-traumatic stress-related incidents.
Caledonia author in the trenches against PTSD
Ilona Meagher’s book on post-traumatic stress disorder just one step in ongoing project to help GIs adapt after war.
Nov 07, 2007 @ 06:00 AM
By Elizabeth Davies
RRSTAR.COM
CALEDONIA -
Ilona Meagher had never met anyone with post-traumatic stress disorder. She didn’t have any family members returning from Iraq, and she didn’t have military training.
In other words, there was no particular reason Meagher, a former flight attendant who lives in Caledonia, would become a passionate advocate for American soldiers struggling to adapt to life after war.
Except she saw the issue for more than its statistics. She did more than read a newspaper article and think, “Such a shame.” Rather, this 41-year-old envisioned the families torn apart by soldiers who, unable to cope with their memories of Iraq, took their own lives.
Meagher understood what those families were going through. In 2000, she lost her big sister to suicide. Her sister wasn’t a veteran, and she didn’t have post-traumatic stress disorder. But a loss is a loss, and families mourn for their loved ones just the same.
That’s why Meagher has dedicated her work — raising awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans — to her sister’s memory.
“I realize that the work must be my way of trying to make something — anything — good come out of a really difficult time for me and my family,” she said. “I see military families doing the same thing after their loved one commits suicide. A family that’s never been publicly active before is moved to do whatever they can do to see that no one else has to suffer the same loss, walk the same dark pathway.”
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Thanks, Kathie. Big hug coming your way, and wishes for a good weekend.
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