At the end, did MTL have a sense of vindication

[LincolnToddFan]

(04-22-2015 08:38 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Fido probably believed in the basic goodness of man.

Yes, he did. He had that in common with his owner.

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(04-23-2015 09:13 AM)Juan Marrero Wrote:  This may be a little tangential and has been discussed with reference to Henry Rathbone, but I would add a word about MTL and PTSD. She certainly was exposed to an episode that would almost guarantee some degree of post-traumatic stress. Coming only three years after Willie's death and all the family trauma relative to the Civil War, I would say that she handled it all reasonably well. I haven't read whether she experienced flashbacks, but PTSD is at core a memory that will not be processed. It remains raw and continues to disturb. There was a recent study of WW II veterans that suggested that thoses vets without PTSD "sugar-coated" their war expereinces, remembering with emphasis the camraderie and the excitement of youth. In a sense, they edited their internal "video" of WWII and turned it into PG rated memory. Those with PTSD recalled the events exactly as what they were--bloody, exhausting and perilous. One would want to flee from such memories. Interestingly, the two First Ladies who witnessed ther husband's murder "fled" the country--Mary to the Continent and Mrs. Kennedy to Greece. Perhaps today, MTL would have been viewed and treated for this disturbance. Incidentaly, PTSD can make the sufferer explosive--both physically and verbally. Gee, to what extent are we really in control of ourselves? A Spanish philosopher wrote: "I am I and my circumstances."

Juan,

There is a book by Jason Emerson("The Madness of Mary Lincoln") with contributions by psychiatrist Dr. James Brust that argues very conclusively that MTL suffered from PTSD, probably as early as the death of Willie and most certainly after the assassination.

Her psychotic break of 1875 coincided with the 10th anniversary of the murder, and it's what led to RTL to move to have her institutionalized. Interestingly enough there were no further incidents of severe psychosis after that milestone anniversary.