Sebastian Junger takes a hard look at how the way society deals with PTSD and returning veterans makes life more difficult for them. Mr. Junger has methodically researched the many alarming statistics surrounding the rate of suicide of these groups in certain societies by looking deeper not only into those societies but also the ones where it is less common and it should be surprising to no one to learn that much of it has to do with connection. More and more, we are becoming a self-isolating. It's easier to order in everything from the outside world, yes, but what are we saving all that time for? To be productive? What does that mean and why do we value it so highly and devalue those whom we think of as "less productive"?
Human connection...interactions...a societal connectedness. These are things that we should be striving more towards but they are the things that seem to be getting lost more and more in this new age. Mr. Junger found that people he interviewed who had lived through sieges and war times actually had fond memories of those times, not because of the horrors they endured but because it brought a community together. Once the danger was passed, they all went back to living their own lives and something was lost.
Humans are by nature social beings but the more busy we become, the less we have time to sit down and be there for each other, to listen, to connect with one another. I think this book was narrow in it's scope but there is a very wise underlying message for all of us...Slow down and reconnect with people. We will all be better for it.
Page count: 182p/17,410p ytd/309,608p lifetime
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