For the past five years there’s been a war being waged at my front door. Thousands of people are being needlessly attacked, killed, and robbed because of the Cameroonian civil war. My grandparents were some of the unlucky ones. In the middle of the night, rebels broke into their house, beat them, and stole all of their goods. But what really scarred my grandpa was when they held a gun to his head and forced him to show them where he kept his money. Even weeks afterwards, he relives that horrible night over and over again. What he and many others go through is known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I wanted to cover this topic for the BRAIN since I know someone suffering from it, and what I’ve found will help me. I’ve learned that to best help my grandpa, I need to be able to really listen to him, not just hear him. My grandparents moved in with us for a while so that they could be out of their negative environment that would remind them of what happened. And I’ve done my part to move away anything that could trigger him, like the clothes he wore that day or any watches, as they took his from him. It’s not perfect, but I can tell my grandpa appreciates my help, and anyone else can do these things to help someone they know that’s suffering, too.
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