Why rethinking PTSD can change everything
In the summer of 2016 broadcaster and journalist Charlie Webster was in a comma and on life support. Thankfully she survived – a ‘miracle’ according to her doctors. But Charlie’s talk doesn’t focus on what happened, or even how it happened. Instead she charts the journey of followed. As she navigated the rough seas of PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder – and struggled to come to terms with the aftermath of her experience. In the UK 1 in 13 young people have experienced PTSD before they reach 18. And it’s estimated that 24.4 million Americans have PTSD at any given time; that’s the entire population of Texas. In sharing her battle to overcome PTSD, Charlie highlights the need to offer mental health support as standard practice to anyone in intensive care, in our hospitals, in our emergency departments. To see PTSD as a global public health issue that has far-reaching consequences in society. Charlie is an experienced broadcaster and journalist across both TV and radio, covering nearly every major sporting event. She has spoken widely about her personal experiences of PTSD, having experienced sexual abuse as a teenager, as well as a near death experience when she contracted malaria during a charity cycling challenge.