Colleen Crary’s Fearless Nation Spreading PTSD Awareness With Music
By Elisa Hawkes
Staff Reporter
The Boothbay Register
Nov 4, 2010
Colleen Crary, former strategic
marketing and business development professional, holder of a B.A. in graphic
design, an M.B.A. and a master’s degree in forensic psychology, gave it all up
to establish Fearless Nation, a web-based organization dedicated to raising
awareness, educating the public and eradicating the stigma of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD). Crary is now executive director of the non-profit
organization.
On November 6, the Fearless
Nation website will hold the 2nd Annual 24-hour PTSD Awareness Event. This
online event will feature live performances by internationally renowned
musicians and artists to raise PTSD awareness and educate listeners in order to
banish ignorance and the stigma associated with PTSD by focusing on fact-based,
scientifically researched information. The event, with pop musicians and DJs,
will be presented from just after midnight Pacific Coast Time and will run for
24 hours.
Crary became involved with the
PTSD cause after experiencing
multiple traumas and being diagnosed with PTSD.
She
said, “The core reason I founded Fearless Nation was because
I had such a difficult time finding a therapist who was
qualified to help with PTSD. Believe it or not, I tried almost
30 therapists over three decades until I found someone
who specializes in this area.
“I never want others to go
through what I went through; feeling
lost, alone, hopeless and powerless.”
Crary said in her journey she
found that many people disregard
PTSD as non-existent or are afraid people with
the
stress disorder are dangerous at times. These are common misconceptions,
leading to discriminatory acts, which Crary wants
to eliminate.
According to Crary, “There is now
scientific proof that trauma
alters the brain, which provides physical evidence of trauma.
Also, time is of the essence. The sooner a person gets treatment,
the easier it will be to deal with PTSD.”
Crary is the daughter of the late
Dr. Paul Crary, long-time physician at Miles Memorial Hospital and St. Andrews.
His work in interventional radiological treatment and reputation for the caring
manner in which he dealt with his patients are remembered in the Boothbay
community. Dr. Crary was an inspiration to Colleen in establishing the website.
Colleen also mentioned her mother, Josephine, as an inspiration in the way she
handled day to day life, never letting anything keep her from “striding
forward.”
Fearless Nation--PTSD Support,
Inc.’s mission is make information available to the public to help eliminate
the prejudice and discrimination related to PTSD and to build community for
survivors. It is a nonprofit, nondenominational, multicultural community. Crary
stressed that although there is often a spiritual element in group discussions,
no specific religion is endorsed. She also wants people to know the
organization is for everyone touched by PTSD, not just war veterans or the PTSD
victims themselves; family members are victims, also.
Crary said a very useful tool the
site offers is Second Life, a role-playing venue allowing the user to create an
avatar (a three-dimensional character) in a virtual world to interact with
other users in a safe setting. This provides a more personal approach; the
ability to sit around a campfire and talk, to hug someone. It also provides the
safety net of anonymity and the capability to just close the site if the
situation becomes uncomfortable.
“We have an international
following at this point. People in Britain and the Netherlands frequent the
site, as do those in Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Serbia and Russia,” Crary said. “Over
the past 20 years, the potential for trauma in society around the world has
risen. Just look at 9/11.”
Fearless Nation helps war
veterans, law enforcement personnel, emergency responders, sexual and physical
abuse survivors, torture and crime victims, man-made and natural disaster
survivors, trauma clinicians and those close to anyone who has suffered
physical, psychological and verbal trauma.
The beliefs of Fearless Nation
include the assertions that there is power in a group; recovery does not occur
in isolation, knowledge is power and self-confidence may be reclaimed by
becoming educated about the condition and about current research into
treatment.
In Crary’s words, “For people
with PTSD every day is scary. You don’t know when you are going to ‘fall down
the rabbit hole’ and how you are going to get back out of that depression.
“I want people to be aware and
educated about what PTSD is be-cause that will banish ignorance and the stigma.
No more sweeping it under the rug. We are not going to hide anymore. We are
Fearless!”
More
about PTSD
PTSD can result when one is
exposed to actual or threatened death or serious injury, witnessing death or
injury or physical threat, among other things. Even learning about the
unexpected or violent death or serious injury of a family member or loved one
can bring on PTSD.
In many cases PTSD will present
in the form of feelings of intense fear, helplessness, and horror. Symptoms
must be present more than one month and must cause clinically significant
distress in important areas of daily functioning. PTSD can be especially long
lasting or severe when of human design, such as torture or rape.
PTSD can cause hyper-vigilance,
sleeplessness and an extreme startle response. Feelings of depression, shame,
despair and hopelessness are common, as are feelings of being permanently
damaged, a loss of core beliefs (spiritual for example) and hostility or social
withdrawal, among others.
Often PTSD creates marked changes
in personality that adversely affect relationships. Self-medication through
alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco and prescription medicines are common ways the
PTSD sufferer attempts to cope.
The Fearless Nation 24-hour PTSD
Awareness Event on November 6 is being produced with one goal: To raise public
awareness about PTSD. Crary is not asking for donations of money, products or
services.
However, although Crary has not
solicited donations of any significance she has used her own funds to operate
the organization.
She said, “My accountant is not
happy. I have no retirement funds left and I’m running low in general. But this
is just such an important cause. So many people are lost and need a place to go
for help. I wouldn’t change what I have done.”
If you would like to help keep
Fearless Nation growing, donations may be made through PayPal on the Fearless
Nation site. Any assistance would be appreciated.
For more information about the
event, go to fearless-nation.org-/BeFearless2010.html. For more information
about The Fearless Nation website or about PTSD, go to
www.fearless-nation.org/. [Editors: See attached for further background on
Fearless Nation and post-traumatic stress disorder.]
Fearless
Nation PTSD Support is a 501c3 Non Profit Public Charity that provides free
community support for all post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers,
their family, friends and therapists through raising awareness and education
about PTSD based in proven science in order to banish the stigma and
misinformation associated with the condition.
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