What do abusers see when they look at a victim walking across the street that tells them they can abuse the individual? Why do people commit suicide? Why do people have road rage? What does childhood abuse look like in adulthood? How does a PTSD victim describe what is going on inside of them? What is the human element that would turn a trauma into a life experience? My name is Lady and I have been diagnosed PTSD.

I had a flashback in 2003 of a violent military rape that I had suppressed for over 40 years. I was also sexually abused as a child. Counseling for over 40 years, I never dreamed I would have to walk the same path I led my clients on. If I could have had something in my hand to act as a lifeline, it would have gone a long way toward giving me hope. My strength, my therapist and my friends were what helped me to go back to the original pain and connect the dots in my life to the present. To have a lifeline for others is the reason I wrote about the pain of my dysfunctional life.

"My Journey to Peace with PTSD" describes how anger quietly sets in at any age and creates a trauma victim who becomes a candidate for PTSD; road rage; failed and successful suicides; how and why some people become abuse victims and why others become abusers; and more. As a PTSD victim, the one element that affected me the most was the feeling of isolation, which can be as terrifying as the trauma. The Foreword to the book is written by Ruth Crawford, LCSW, VAMC, with additional praises from other health care professionals.