Only some of these people have disclosed a PTSD diagnosis, but all lived through significant trauma. Some were traumatized before the official recognition of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in 1980.

Comedians and Musicians

11 Mick Jagger

Singer/Musician.

Diagnosed with PTSD after his girlfriend, model L’Wren Scott, committed suicide in their home. Sudden and traumatic death of a loved one is a known cause of PTSD.

12 Spike Milligan

British comedian.

Traumatized in World War II, he fought in numerous campaigns in Italy and was wounded in the war. He was demoted after an officer refused to acknowledge he was suffering PTSD. After the war he developed bipolar disorder and had many breakdowns.

13 Tina Turner

Singer.

Tina Turner experienced Domestic Violence including rape at the hands of her husband, Ike, and child abuse. She become more famous after leaving Ike and becoming a solo artist. Her past is described in her autobiography and the film What’s Love Got To Do With It.

Interview with Ike and Tina Turner about the domestic violence she described

14 Tori Amos

Singer/Musician, Co-founded the Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN).

Tori Amos is well known as a survivor of sexual abuse (rape), a theme which is present in many of her songs. Her music and history inspired the name of sexual assault forum Pandora’s Aquarium, named after one of her songs.



Authors and Journalists

15 Alice Sebold.

Author.

Sebold is a rape survivor, and best known as author of the best-selling book Lovely Bones. She was raised in a dysfunctional family, and her memoir Lucky describes her brutal rape, which she was told she was lucky to survive.

16 David H. Hackworth

Author and journalist at Newsweek.

Hackworth was awarded eight purple hearts, he lied about his age to enlist in the Army at fifteen years old, and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. His books on military themes include The Price of Honor (1999) and Hazardous Duty (1997).

17 Jackie Onasis

U.S. First Lady, 1961-1963.

Jackie Kennedy, later known as Jackie Onasis, witnessed the fatal shooting of her husband, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, by a sniper while she was sat next to him in an open-top car. She reacted by trying to grab his shattered head and prevent anything further coming out. She could easily have been murdered or shot by the same person. Later she remarried, and became an editor after her second husband died.

18 Stephen King

Author.

Stephen King is best known for his horror novels, including Carrie, The Shining, The Green Mile, and Misery. King was 4 years old when he witnessed another child being killed by a train, which he does not remember. He was seriously injured and nearly died in 1999 after being hit by a van while out walking. He almost lost his right leg.

19 Rudyard Kipling

Author and poet.

Child physical abuse including torture by his caregivers. Kipling is author of The Jungle Book, and Kim.

20 Victor Frankl

Psychiatrist, neurologist, and author.

Frankl, born in Austria, was director of the Neurological Department of Rothschild Hospital immediately before the Holocaust. He spent 3 years in concentration camps, and his wife died in the Bergen-Belsen camp. His best known book “Man’s Search for Meaning” sold over nine million copies on the U.S. He was awarded 29 honor degrees and lectured on 5 continents.

Sources

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/stars-whove-spoken-abuse/story?id=18122368

http://m.ranker.com/list/famous-survivors-of-child-abuse/celebrity-lists

PTSD Self Help: Transforming Survival into a Life Worth Living, p205. A. E. Huppert (2014).

The Everything Guide to Overcoming PTSD: Simple, Effective Techniques for Healing and Recovery, p91-94. Romeo Vitelli (2014).

The Everything Guide to Overcoming PTSD: Simple, Effective Techniques for Healing and Recovery, p91-94. Romeo Vitelli (2014).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/lwren-scott-suicide-left-mick-4606496

Stephen King. Michael Gray Baughan (2009).

Brave Miss World (documentary).

Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story. Barbarism Leaming (2014).

http://victorfrankl.org/lifeandwork.html

Related links

More info: http://traumadissociation.com

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