The Invisible Trauma

Coping with PTSD

 

Dave Morgan

Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing, 2022

Paperback    346pp  RRP: $29.99

 

Reviewer: Adrian Catt, May 2023

 

 Kudos to Dave ‘Morgs’ Morgan for producing this insightful autobiography, focused primarily upon the traumas and events of his life which have afflicted him, resulting in a clinical diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Though we are all individuals and respond to stimuli and life differently, Morgan lays the blame for his ruined life squarely upon his military service, particularly due to his deployment in the Vietnam War. He is NOT Robinson Crusoe, nor is he alone, as growing numbers of Service personnel, first-responders, and victims of crime are cursed by their ordeals with confronting events.

Morgan bravely acknowledges chronologically the events throughout his life which have triggered ‘red-flags’ - from his childhood to present day. Recounting each traumatic event and noting how he felt at the time, as well as post-incident, demonstrates how real the anguish is for him: a long-term millstone around his neck and also for his family.

This book is his story: not yours: not mine. By being open and bringing his problems and triumphs into the open, as well as including forwards and epilogues from clinicians, Dave is courageously putting himself and invaluable medical information into our hands so that we can better cope with, assist, or understand a loved-one and others suffering from PTSD.

Though both the start and ending of this book are outstanding in their clarity and purpose, unfortunately a lengthy section of the middle of the book goes ‘off-piste’, and it reads too much like a travelogue.  But do persist with reading it: it eventually comes full-circle. The closing statements from his adult children and his wife are so poignant, they pull the book and the family together, not apart.

Dave ‘Morgs’ Morgan is a man.  He is a patriot.  He is brave.  He is a survivor.  His story needs to be acknowledged. Let’s congratulate him!

 

 

The RUSI – Vic Library thanks the publisher for making this work available for review.