The symptoms suffered by trauma victims who develop PTSD include reliving the event, avoiding cues and reminders about the event, feeling either numb or keyed up, health problems that have no clear cause, feelings of shame/guilt/anger and hopelessness, poor emotional and behavioral control, social and communication problems, changed beliefs, and values and personality features.

Identifying this conglomerate of unpleasantry as the body’s unified reaction to a life catastrophe might sound simple and obvious, but it’s not. In Chapter 2, we offer detailed explanations of these symptoms, as well as a discussion of their causes.

We also suggest “Music Therapy” to help recognize the place of these reactions in a life interrupted. Here is our playlist for Chapter 2: Symptoms of PTSD: Stress Control in Hyperdrive.

1. “Covert War,” David Wilcox

Family conflict and an abusive childhood lead to trust issues in adult life. Any trauma reaction in adulthood is made all the worse due to trauma in childhood. Both harmful constellations must be dealt with.

2. “One Left in the Chamber,” Corb Lund

Desperation is heightened when given enough regret, trauma, failure, and avoidance. Suicide is very high among folks whose lives have been traumatized. Perhaps suicide  is the ultimate escape, but recovery from trauma requires some form of facing those regrets.

3. “Dress of Laces,” Nanci Griffith

Neglect and abuse in childhood leads to more abuse. Somewhere, such cycles must end. We think our book is a good starting point.

4. “Tear Down the House,” Avett Brothers

PTSD changes one deeply, and it is necessary to let go of what is not working in order to grow a new life.

5. “I Am a Rock,” Simon and Garfunkel

Sometimes we believe that isolation is the best protection from facing pain, but that is an illusion.

6. “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” Ann Wilson, Shawn Colvin, Rupert Wainwright

Eventually, the difficult stuff we avoid must be faced.

7. The Unspeakable Crime: Rape (2013) (Documentary Film)

A documentary that describes a sexual assault victims’ center in Manchester, England.

8. Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)

A compilation of 5 stories: Lucy, a Pre-Law student with schizophrenia who, to her detriment, experiments with her medication dosage; Grace, the daughter of a bipolar mother whose manic episode has frightening consequences; Alison, whose family life is heavily impacted by her sister’s illness; Eddie, a stand-up comedian whose depression sends him spiraling into darkness; and Maggie, whose PTSD is the result of the sexual trauma she experienced while serving in the military.