Irritable Hearts by Mac Mcclelland

Irritable Hearts by Mac Mcclelland

I had nightmares, flashbacks. I dissociated. Changes in self-perception and hallucinations-those are some of my other symptoms. You are poison, I chanted silently to myself. And your poison is contagious.
So begins Mac McClelland's powerful, unforgettable memoir, Irritable Hearts.

When thirty-year-old, award-winning human rights journalist Mac McClelland left Haiti after reporting on the devastating earthquake of 2010, she never imagined how the assignment would irrevocably affect her own life. Back home in California, McClelland cannot stop reliving vivid scenes of violence. She is plagued by waking terrors, violent fantasies, and crippling emotional breakdowns. She can't sleep or stop crying. Her life in shambles, it becomes clear that she is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Her bewilderment about this sudden loss of control is magnified by the intensity of her feelings for Nico, a French soldier she met in Port-au-Prince and with whom she connected instantly and deeply.

With inspiring fearlessness, McClelland tackles perhaps her most harrowing assignment to date: investigating the damage in her own mind and repairing her broken psyche. She begins to probe the depths of her illness, exploring our culture's history with PTSD, delving into the latest research by the country's top scientists and therapists, and spending time with veterans and their families. McClelland discovers she is far from alone: while we frequently associate PTSD with wartime combat, it is more often caused by other manner of trauma and can even be contagious-close proximity to those afflicted can trigger its symptoms. As she confronts the realities of her diagnosis, she opens up to the love that seems to have found her at an inopportune moment.

Irritable Hearts is a searing, personal medical mystery that unfolds at a breakneck pace. But it is also a romance. McClelland fights desperately to repair her heart so that she can give it to the kind, patient, and compassionate man with whom she wants to share a life. Vivid, suspenseful, tender, and intimate, Irritable Hearts is a remarkable exploration of vulnerability and resilience, control and acceptance. It is a riveting and hopeful story of survival, strength, and love.

Few people have been privileged to excel in such a diversity of career experiences as Author Mac McClelland! From his humble beginnings as a Kansas farmer, he was called into the Marine Corps during the Korean War, where he proudly served, flying jets and helicopters. Years later as a civilian, he added yet another career in real estate sales combined with property management. Eager to work with his hands again, he jumped at the opportunity to develop skills in building and construction and for the next 41 years built and sold over 63 homes. During this time he taught his two kids, Sheila and Scott, this trade from the ground up. In fact, Sheila and he built together approximately 25 homes for resell or rentals. When Mac reluctantly began winding down from the strenuous demands in construction, his daughter Sheila encouraged him to consider writing as a hobby. Each career had contributed in some way to his education. With his ready wit he began breathing life into his words on those pages and many readers, young and old are now enlightened, entertained, and inspired with each new book.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781250053503
ISBN 10	1250053501
Title	Irritable Hearts
Author	Mac Mcclelland
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Flatiron Books
Year published	2016-03-22
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable