Category Archives: Non-Portfolio Tasks

Section 14 “Meanwhile people like James Peterson, husband of Kateri of the Olive Garden breakdown,” This is a categorical claim, putting James in a category with other veterans whose PTSD has not only damaged their own mental health, but also … Continue reading →

Brannan Vines has never been to war. But she’s got a warrior’s skills: hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers. (Analogy Claim) The author is comparing Brannan’s experiences to the awareness of soldiers in war.  Her nose starts running … Continue reading →

Section 12 “By this point, you might be wondering, and possibly feeling guilty about wondering, why Brannan doesn’t just get divorced.” -This quote can be categorized as an Ethical/Moral claim and a Recommendation/Proposal claim. The phrase, “possibly feeling guilty” could … Continue reading →

“Granted, diagnosing PTSD is a tricky thing. The result of a malfunctioning nervous system that fails to normalize after trauma and instead perpetrates memories and misfires life-or-death stress for no practical reason, it comes in a couple of varieties, various complexities, has … Continue reading →

Section 11 It’s to help kids like that that Brannan and her volunteers put together an informational packet on secondary trauma for parents to give to teachers, explaining their battle-worthy idiosyncrasies and sensory-processing sensitivities. They’re common enough problems that the … Continue reading →

Brannan sent Katie to the school therapist, once. She hasn’t seen any other therapist, or a therapist trained to deal with PTSD—Brannan knows what a difference that makes, since the volunteer therapist she tried briefly herself spent more time asking … Continue reading →

Section 14 Chemical exposure, stress reaction, no one knows, but the skin cracks and opens up raw with lesions sometimes.  The author expresses an Evaluative Claim by using her judgement. It is explained that certain factors may cause a type … Continue reading →

1.“We have reason to be reasonably optimistic. Psychotherapy does work for typical PTSD.” The VA tends to favor cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure therapy—whereby traumatic events are hashed out and rehashed until they become, theoretically, less consuming.  This is a factual … Continue reading →