THUNDER BAY – Stephen Price used to have a hard time telling people about his war experiences.
When the former U.S. Army sergeant returned home from overseas duty more than five years ago he tried to internalize and not tell anybody about his mental condition. Three years later Price realized he was likely suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and needed help.
It’s talking about his struggles and demons that have helped and he continued that on Saturday where he was one of a number of people taking part in a human library session hosted by Leadership Thunder Bay at the Waverly Park library on Saturday.
“For me it was cathartic. It’s coming full circle. When I came home I wouldn’t talk to people, I wouldn’t open up to anyone and I would get mad when people asked me about my experiences,” he said.
“To go from that to where I can sit and talk to strangers and answer questions to me is a measure the war didn’t beat me. The war couldn’t take away the best parts of my life.”
Price, who now lives in Northwestern Ontario with his wife, served overseas starting in 2006 before finally coming home for good in 2009.
He credited her and his family for playing a major part in him getting ahead of the struggle.
Hearing him speak firsthand and putting a face to PTSD is more rewarding and revealing than just learning it through any other medium.
“You can actually hear my story. You can hear the experiences. It’s always better to hear it from someone who was there and experienced it,” Price said.
“You might get a better understanding. A movie can only do so much, a book can only do so much compared to sitting down and me telling you in my own words how I feel. It’s vastly different.”
There were a total of eight human books, which included a 92-year-old war bride, a vegan, former NHL player, youth from the LGBTQ community as well as youth recovering from eating disorders.
Cheryl Henderson-Mitchell, who lost her son when he took his own life, told participants about her experiences and shared her story.
Once she started talking it was easier and more fulfilling than she anticipated.
“I didn’t know what it would be like. This is my first time ever doing something like this,” she said.
“I didn’t really even think I would make it through the day. With the first person I thought I might break down and not be able to talk. But it was very good and I found it very well. I did break down a couple of times but I composed myself again and carried on.”
She hopes sharing her story can help others.
“It’s nice to help other people too with their questions because there are people who have come to me with their sons or daughters showing mental illness and they don’t know what to do and are afraid of suicide,” she said.
“My first thought was I was going to do this in honour of my son. Second of all I’m going to help get it out there so people are aware about suicide and mental illness.”
Courtney Strutt, who is a member of Leadership Thunder Bay and helped organize the event, said human libraries are designed to bring people together.
“The idea is to engage the community into having conversations with people they might not otherwise have conversations with,” she said.
“Everybody comes with different stories and some stories might have stereotypes or challenges associated with them so allowing people to have a human, face to face conversation and asking questions and, meet people you otherwise meet you learn a lot of new things.”
