Baseball's All-Stars Among Us
I have a small memory of being a young boy and captivated by a Major League Baseball All-Star game. I can only remember that one time and the feeling of awe as the players were announced. That same surreal feeling struck me at many sporting events, including the 1975 World Series, which the Red Sox lost to the Reds in 7 games, and the 1984 and 1986 World Championships, which the Celtics won.
Sports were always a normalizing experience for me, whether I was on the field or court myself or I was watching professional games on television or firsthand at the Boston Garden or Fenway Park.
So tonight, for some unknown reason and for the first time since that childhood experience, I'm watching the All-Star game. I'm surprised because I just realized that the game was played at Fenway in 1999 and I didn't make any attempt to watch it. At least I have no memory of it.
The reason I'm posting any of this here is that as part of the pre-game festivities, MLB and People magazine sponsored "All-Stars Among Us". Thousands were nominated and 30 were selected (one from each team) representing citizens who have made special contributions to their community.
I wanted to single out one individual, Mark Kunz, for his relevance to this site.
His description reads: Matt Kunz's stepbrother Chris committed suicide in 2007 after returning from Iraq with undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Matt made it his mission to ensure that all National Guard Troops in his home state of Montana receive adequate PTSD screening. He continues to campaign for PTSD awareness and screening for all veterans.
I see "all-stars" everywhere, including all survivors of trauma who are all-stars in my eyes.
For more information, visit: All-Stars Among Us.
4 Comments
Welcome
"Healing from Trauma and Dissociation"
I'm Paul, a father, husband, scientist, educator, photographer and musician. I'm also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.
Mind Parts consists of my own insights on the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse, namely trauma stress and the full spectrum of dissociative coping mechanisms, including dissociative identities. Through a blog, I explore the healing process in a variety of ways—using creative contributions of original art, photography, poetry, and music as well as, hopefully, though-provoking essays. Mind Parts is also home to two support services. The quarterly Ezine Trauma Recovery Highlights is a look at some of the best online resources. Also, the monthly Expressive Arts Carnival makes available activities which are published as a group "Carnival."
Comments are welcomed, but if you prefer, you may contact me offline. My belief is that sites like this one can contribute by offering unique perspectives and knowledge, thereby enhancing opportunities not only for survivors but for readers and society as a whole. Namaste!
I appreciate your comment on all of us being all-stars.
When my T said I was experiencing PTSD symptoms, I denied it, adamantly. I actually believed that no one except people coming home from the service could experience it.
It's too bad that so many of us see ourselves as survivors, but other people call us "nuts". I really hope some day that people will expend as much energy trying to punish/heal the bad guys as they do in categorizing us. (The DSM V may be taking DID out as a valid diagnosis. They want to put it on a sliding scale on the PTSD spectrum).
Here's my DSM-V comment. I had not heard this, but will ask myself to find out if this is really a possibility. If this happens, and in fact DID is taken out as a valid diagnosis, this would be an undesirable outcome. Even if the resulting description, i.e., on a sliding PTSD spectrum, is more accurate, it's not a good outcome because it provides a win for those who have claimed all along it's not valid. I was not entirely happy with the name change from MPD to DID. And would be equally unhappy with a change from DID to PTSD spectrum. I'll ask tomorrow when I meet with someone who I know is involved with these issues and will post about it. Thanks for the heads up.
I have only heard this from my T (about changing DID to being on the PTSD spectrum). I am quite interested in what you discover. I, too, hope it is not true because DID is already difficult enough to diagnose because all too many professionals believe DID does not exist in the "real" world.
Hi Paul,
It's nice to hear about a real All-Star.
Kate