Article Text

At 82, Laverne Carter still finds that ordinary sounds in her Arlington neighborhood can pull her back to the fear she experienced in Mississippi during the Civil Rights movement.

A screen door slamming or a bus stopping can trigger a physical response rooted in events from more than six decades ago. During PTSD Awareness Month, Carter is speaking publicly about the post-traumatic stress disorder she carried silently for much of her life.

“Some sounds don’t mean danger anymore, but my body hasn’t gotten the message,” Carter said. “And that’s the part of PTSD people don’t see.”

Carter’s trauma did not come from military service. It began during the turbulent summers of the early 1960s, when she volunteered at her church in Greenwood, Mississippi.

In 1963, Carter traveled with a small church group delivering food to families who had been evicted after attempting to register to vote. Although she did not participate in marches or sit-ins, she took notes, maintained lists of people needing assistance and helped prepare supplies.

“We weren’t trying to be heroes,” she said. “We were just trying to help our people stay alive long enough to vote.”

Carter remembers June 1963 as the point when everything changed. Later that year, she listened to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington speech on a radio in the church basement while women prepared fried chicken, collard greens and pound cakes.

One of her most enduring memories came during Freedom Summer in 1964. Carter and other volunteers were assembling meals for delivery when a brick crashed through a church basement window. Sudden noises still make her flinch.

“When you’re eighteen, you don’t realize how long a moment like that can live inside,” she said.

After King’s assassination, Carter left Mississippi in 1968 and joined cousins who had moved to Washington, D.C. The relocation did not leave her memories behind. She continued to startle at slamming doors, avoided fireworks and slept lightly, listening for signs of danger.

In 1997, a panic attack at work led Carter to a psychiatrist at Howard University Hospital. There, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Her treatment included cognitive behavioral therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, weekly psychotherapy and a support group for survivors of violence. She learned breathing and grounding exercises, along with ways to recognize when her body was preparing for a threat that was no longer present.

Carter now manages her symptoms through therapy, routine and community. She journals every morning, practices yoga, walks the trails at Fort Barnard Park and attends church. She also participates in a faith-based healing circle and visits people diagnosed with PTSD.

“You don’t have to be silent to be strong, and healing is possible,” Carter said. “But the miracle for me is that I lived long enough to heal.”

Finding Help

Symptoms of PTSD can include intrusive memories, avoidance, hypervigilance, nightmares and emotional numbness. A formal diagnosis must be made by a licensed mental health professional.

Free, confidential help is available around the clock by calling or texting 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Veterans may press 1 after dialing 988 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line or text 838255 for specialized support.

Anyone facing an immediate emergency should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.