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Hay Festival 2011

MRC centre members and affiliates endeavour to talk to a wide range of publics. Below is a piece written by Jon Bisson telling of his experience of presenting about PTSD at the prestigious Hay Festival and appearing on the Book Show.

"On Tuesday 31 May 2011 I gave a presentation for Cardiff University at the Hay Festival. The session was chaired by Rosy Boycott and around 300 people attended. I spoke for around 20 minutes on PTSD and its manifestation in military veterans. After considering historical accounts of traumatic stress including Samuel Pepys after the Great Fire of London, Charles Dickens experiences after a railway accident and Shell Shock during World War 1, I described PTSD and its acceptance as a psychiatric diagnosis in 1980. I then discussed my introduction to PTSD as a military psychiatrist, treating veterans with PTSD in Wales and the creation of the all Wales health and wellbeing service for veterans in 2010. I ended by focusing on research regarding PTSD in veterans including our own ongoing work in this area.

The audience seemed very receptive. After my talk, Rosy Boycott asked me a few questions followed by the audience. We considered physical manifestations of trauma and the change in symptoms and presentations over time, the ways that different people cope with traumatic events and the assessment and management of veterans and non-veterans with PTSD. The fifty-minute session went very quickly, it was great to be presented with a white rose and even better to be presented with six bottles of wine. All in all, an excellent experience and a very good day out."

Written By Professor Jon Bisson, Cardiff University.