3    Shellshocked

A traumatic event can be like an emotional sledgehammer to the brain, rewiring your nervous system permanently so it’s always revving in the red. It could leave you permanently edgy, your startle response on a tripwire. You’ll be quick to rage. You might struggle to concentrate or sleep. You’ll become listless and depressed. You might have flashbacks, or suppress the fossil-like memories. You might sink into the bottle, cut yourself off from others, or worse. But early efforts to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with psychedelics suggests that magic mushrooms and MDMA - Ecstasy, on the street - might be able to rewire the brain back into a healthier, calmer state.  

*This episode contains some adult content, and may upset sensitive listeners. 

 

 

 

 

Additional resources

Boarding School Syndrome 

British TV documentary filmed in September 1993 about young boys starting boarding prep school. The earliest example of a TV documentary about "modern" boarding.

For more about the outcomes of being sent away to boarding school at a young age, visit Boarding Concern and Boarding School Survivors:

Published on 30 May 2014

http://www.boardingconcern.org.uk/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uRr77vju8U

'Documentary following boys as young as seven or eight when they leave home for the first time and start boarding school in England. This film tells the story of three boys - Luke, Louis and Dominic - during their first term at Sunningdale, a small family-run prep school in Berkshire that educates 100 boys, the vast majority of whom go on to top public schools like Eton or Harrow.' Published on 6 May 2012 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2HUBT_oyaA 

'Cutting Edge follows four eight-year-old girls as they adjust to a new life away from their parents and their home. Each of their parents has decided that their child will be better off boarding in a private school, in this instance Highfield, one of the best boarding schools in the UK.

But how do they cope being separated from their families at such a young age? And how in particular do the mothers deal with the difficult decision of sending their offspring away to be educated?' Published on 20 May 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPVf1OZjNtI