Invisible Wounds Summary

In the TED talk “Art can Heal PTSD’s Invisible Wounds,” Melissa Walker discusses what invisible wounds are and how they are caused. Invisible wounds or PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a mental illness that can be found after someone goes through a traumatizing and dramatic experience. This experience is usually a near death situation and the after effects is what mentally challenges the patient. However, some cases of PTSD can go unnoticed, sometimes even intentionally hidden by a patient. Many people with PTSD may hide their illness for various reasons. One reason is to prevent themselves from being viewed as weak. Many men have an idea of being the strongest one in the family. The speaker states “This physiological change, or speechless terror as it's often called, coupled with mental health stigma, the fear of being judged or misunderstood, possibly even removed from their current duties,
has led to the invisible struggles of our servicemen and women.” (Walker 4:07). Therefore, if he told someone that he was afraid of a simple mask someone may think of him as a liability and not strong enough to serve in the army.
Although some may think not serving in the army is a blessing, serving the army may be very important for them. The army offers paid college scholarships for people who want to get a degree. However, if they are unable to fulfill their service required by the army, they may find themselves in a difficult situation. But there is hope for those with invisible wounds. Invisible wounds can be healed by a new type of approach. Art. Art has allowed many people suffering from PTSD express themselves. After a traumatizing experience, a certain part of brain has a malfunction and causes the patient to lose his/her ability to talk. Therefore, health professionals decided to use art to help these patients express themselves without using that part of the brain. As expected patients found themselves drawing vivid and dark images. Although their expression may not be light hearted and happy, it ultimately helped people recover from
PTSD.
Even though art has been proven to cure people diagnosed with PTSD, writing can also be significant in the recovery of those combating PTSD. Writing is something that is important in the communication between two human beings. After a PTSD, many troops are left with trouble speaking and art has been a solution to that. However, why would writing not be as helpful as art? Similarly to art, writing uses a different part of the brain to process. Writing is also an easier way to communicate than art. In order to understand someone’s art, someone must have a good creativity and imagination to decode someone’s art. On the other hand, writing is straightforward and easy to interpret. However, writing is not the only other option besides art. All related arts can help people with PTSD express themselves, including music. Although music may be hard to create, health workers could give a PTSD patient multiple types of songs to listen to and judge how he feels through which songs he picks. For example, if a patient chooses a Halloween song, doctors may be able to conclude that the patient fears something. However, music can also be used to express emotions not only by listening, but even by playing. When a person plays an instrument, he or she may add some of his or her’s personal feelings about a song. Therefore, through the use of an instrument, doctors may be able to conclude that a patient is angered or frantic when he or she plays in a frustrated manner. In conclusion, PTSD can be helped by related arts and more.