Powerful & Famous Women: PTSD Edition #PTSD

After a trauma, some women may feel depressed, start drinking or using drugs, or develop PTSD. Women are more than twice as likely to develop PTSD than men. Sexual assault is more likely to cause PTSD than many other events (in females).

1. Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg witnessed two planes collide in midair as a child. As a comedienne, actress and talk show host, she’s required to travel frequently and has dealt with severe panic attacks when boarding planes.

2. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

The first lady to President J. F. Kennedy developed PTSD after the assassination of her husband. She never made it public but mentioned in a recent biography she obsessively retold this event and how difficult it became for her to sleep at night thinking someone would kill her too.

3. Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron had a problematic childhood with her father getting drunk and beating her and her mother. She hid the facts for years and said that her father died in a car accident. She was actually trying to forget the night when her mother killed her father while trying to protect herself and her daughter.

4. Oprah Winfrey

She did a show on sexual abuse in 1986 and revealed that a relative raped her when she was only 9 and was later abused by many people for several years. She had a baby who died early. She now advocates sexual abuse survivors.

5. Monica Seles

Seles was stabbed in the back by a rival’s fan during a match in 1993, at the height of her career. Her autobiography describes how her PTSD left her afraid to go back on the court with her back to the crowd, and how her injury affected her ability to play.

6. Lady Gaga

She has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since she was raped at the age of 19.

7. Carré Otis

Carré Otis grew up with an alcoholic father, was raped at 17, experienced domestic violence, and was raped again as an adult. Her modeling career involved frequent sexual harassment.

8. Mo’Nique

Child sexual abuse. Mo’Nique drew on her experience to play the part of the abusive mother in the film Precious.