PTSD LOVE STORIES
Key Investors
Endorsement
Seeding Time Pictures, are dynamic, visual storytellers creating a cross-cultural content bridge across Australasia. We celebrate diverse and authentic voices to communicate social impact factual and narrative stories to global audiences. We are based in Brisbane and Bali, and travel whenever the story takes us.
Genre
Identity, Love, Relationship
Format
83' Feature and 30' Short
Logline
Who Cares for the Carers?
Synopsis
PTSD Love Stories is a story of hope and an exploration of identity, love and relationships of the caregivers for those who suffer from PTSD as a result of trauma incurred from working in the Fire, Ambulance and Police services. Who cares for the Carers? We follow three individuals who are finding ways forward to love, to care and still be free to explore their identity and fulfill their own needs. Their stories shed light on mental health, intergenerational trauma, PTSD, suicide, and stigma in the workplace. Quirky and inspirational, the film uses art as a medium to explore three women’s stories on a serious issue with a light-hearted touch.
The Film Participants
“Something that I had circling in my head very early on in the relationship was that just because he has PTSD or because anyone has PTSD doesn’t mean that they’re any less worthy of love and of someone loving them.”
- KIM HERRINGE
KIM recently found the love of her life online and married her veteran/first responder husband Nick. Kim gave up her graphic design business and admits she was naive about PTSD. Kim juggles caring for Nick while building her printmaking career. This inspires her to create PTSD - A Love Story, an artist book she hopes would help her relationship and other couples in similar situations.
“If I’m having a bad day, what keeps me going, my visualisation is my father fighting a fire. We’re going to get through this, pull your shoes on, get your things, get everything ready, right. Let’s fight this battle, let’s get through today,”
CATHY SADDLER -
CATHY grew up living in Gympie Fire Station and watched her mother cope with her father’s role as Chief Officer. She gave up being a lawyer to care for Ralph, her veteran husband and their beautiful children, Sam and Zoe. Cathy is aware of the intergenerational trauma in her family and uses it to give her strength as she navigates her role as a carer and while searching for employment to rebuild a new professional identity.
"These are psychological injuries that can be treated, can be managed. Cured. David’s unfortunately not the one that can be cured but he manages. It’s up and down and up and down and up and down. But the whole, you know, blaming somebody for having an injury that they got for basically serving their country is disgusting and I will fight that as long as I can"
- KATIE TONACIA
KATIE married her teenage sweetheart David, a former Australian Federal Police (AFP) Officer. They have three adult children. Katie felt stigmatised in her AFP job for being married to someone with PTSD. She wants to educate first responders about PTSD. As she stomps out stigma in the workplace through her role as an activist, she struggles to find a balance between being a carer, a mother and herself.
“It’s a very, very complexed lifestyle. The medications I take, it’s very hard for me to become aroused. Physically it doesn’t happen naturally we have to plan it and I have to take tablets as well.”
NICHOLAS HODGE -
NICK lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
“The thing I try to do is be active, just do something every day because activity drives activity, which beats depression,”
- RALPH SADLER
RALPH lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
"We thought that my recovery would be me going back to work putting on my uniform. It actually wasn’t. It was going back to the basics of living life at home and integrating and socialising with the family members."
DAVID TONACIA -
DAVID lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
“In Australia, the suicide rate for police and other emergency services including fire is ten times that of the general population. But for ambulance paramedics, we’re 35 times higher.”
- FENJI STRADWICK
FENJI lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
"When John had been to an accident you’d leave him alone for half an hour, let him settle down, then you’d let the kids talk and he would be OK. It was just to give him time to get back to normal."
PAM CORBET -
PAM lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
“Family was upstairs and the fire brigade was downstairs. And that was the demarcation line, the top of those steps. As soon as the whistle blew, the sense of duty took over, annihilated any feelings or thoughts. You just acted automatically.”
- JOHN CORBET
JOHN lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
"I was 6 and I had no understanding of what was going on but… but I knew that there was something. I didn’t really ever have people over. We never did as a family. And I think that’s because we were scared of being judged."
SARAH TONACIA -
SARAH lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
