Complex PTSD from emotional abuse is an unreported epidemic in the United States. Lily Scot's "Sating the Preta" reveals the intricacies of this disorder through a personal account written in terms easily understood by trauma victims and their loved ones in finding recovery from its effects. According to Scot, in our increasingly anxious society, all of us are vulnerable to Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as more of us experience psychological trauma first and second hand. For most of us, these are not shocking or violent headline-creating incidents. They are subtle moments of terror first felt by us in childhood that open us to risk and further emotional abuse in adulthood. Out of this Complex PTSD we learn reactions and behaviors we use in a psychotic merry-go-round of avoiding or confronting new terrors. Too many of us are the product of emotional abuse and Complex PTSD, and too many others its unwitting cause. In Sating the Preta: A Memoir about Emotional Abuse and Recovery from Complex PTSD, Scot illustrates the development and characteristics of Complex PTSD through a personal story that translates the disorder into an understandable and treatable problem rather than the unrelieved craziness that victims feel and loved ones witness. Both can then more comfortably set themselves on a journey toward recovery, one perhaps similar to the transformation experienced by Scot. This compelling memoir explores the first years of Scot's life from 1950 to 1980 - three decades of intense cultural change during which perilous and harmful as well as gratifying and amusing personal events inspire her erratic journey and transformation. Scot evolves her story through satisfying vignettes offering vibrant impressions of a poignant early childhood, a painful and silent adolescence, a young adulthood fraught with rage and self-destruction and finally an emerging maturity of compassion, forgiveness and remarkable intuition. She writes in an emotional, but not self-involved manner, her self-deprecations often as amusing as her observations are sharp and enduring. This story also suggests that in these troubled times we all become more accepting of each other and more insightful, forgiving and kinder in our judgment of what motivates those we meet. Their behavior may just be a reflection of the tremendous chaos fermenting in their soul from influences over which they had no control. Author Lily Scot has been working professionally in public relations for 30 years, primarily for non-profit human service organizations. This is her first book. "Trauma is too quickly labeled as rape, beatings, torture, restraint and captivity," says Scot. "I think most trauma is far less horrific than these severe incidents. It's emotional manipulation, verbal assault, sexual harassment and molestation, intimidation, workplace abuse, and other non-violent trauma too tolerated by society. I didn't even know I'd been through emotional abuse until diagnosed with Complex PTSD. If I'd known my very painful feelings were a treatable consequence of psychological trauma that wasn't my fault, I would have found relief and led a healthier life at a younger age than my current 63 years. I wrote Sating the Preta hoping young women and men experiencing feelings such as extreme anxiety and depression would relate to my story and seek help sooner." "A fascinating memoir told by a trauma survivor growing up in the 50's, 60's and 70's- during the era of transition and change for many women. Follow Lily's growth from her childhood through young adulthood as she feels the effects of trauma and eventually finds her voice and her power. An inspirational story of resiliency!" ... Ellen Bressler-Wakesberg LCSW-R Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in trauma
About the Author: Lily Scot has lived in various parts of the United States, though mostly in the Northeast, with some time lived in London and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, along with various travels to Europe and the Caribbean. She now lives in Upstate New York with two elderly female cats. Her professional life has been spent working more than thirty years in public relations and fundraising for non-profit human service organizations. In the past few years Lily has taken up political activism, applying her skills to the promotion of several causes she finds critical to restoring true democracy in her home country. Having just attained her bachelor's degree in Human Services, she hopes to find work for a non-governmental organization serving women and children in the Caribbean, where she plans to eventually retire. Lily is also the author of Sating the Preta: A Memoir About Finding the Person I Was Before the Chaos Began. The book describes the subtlety of non-violent, complex trauma and the choices we have in finding resilience and recovery from its effects. Now sixty-three-years old, Lily tells the story of the first third of her life from 1950 to 1980 - three decades of intense cultural change during which perilous and harmful as well as gratifying and amusing personal events inspired her erratic journey and transformation.