Book Review: Blind Devotion: Survival on the Front Lines of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Addiction

"I need to get out of here! Please just help me get my kids out of here!" I was yelling at the 911 dispatcher now, my voice transformed by fear and desperation that had been mysteriously absent since the nightmare began over an hour ago.

I winced when I heard my husband come on the line again from somewhere outside the house. "Go on...Get the XXXX out of here, then" he screamed. It was Sean's voice, but hardly recognizable, just as he was no longer recognizable.


These two paragraphs start the book, Blind Devotion written by Sharlene Prinsen. Prinsen has a way of capturing attention from start to finish while openly sharing her experiences and what her family has endured with a life of PTSD. Throughout the book, Prinsen writes about her husband’s struggles and internal battles with PTSD, addiction, and outbursts in the years before PTSD was diagnosed. She shares her own battles and the rollercoaster of emotions she faced and actions that she had to take to maintain the safety of not only herself, but her children as well.

From page to page, in detail Prinsen describes the issues with alcohol and pills, hitting bottom in marriage and life, struggling while raising children, but also in finding hope and finding light while in a dark and alone tunnel.

As a wife of a wounded combat veteran, too often while reading Blind Devotion, I felt as though I was reading my own story. I found myself in tears at some points reliving the good and bad times and I also found myself with a smile thinking of the moments that we as veterans wives catch the glimpses of who they use to be. We cling on to those moments and allow them to guide us through the dark times.

I strongly encourage people, especially wives of veterans, to read Blind Devotion. This book is an eye-opener to anyone that reads it whether it be in the sense of bringing awareness to life following deployments or bringing comfort to so many in knowing they are not alone.

Blind Devotion: Survival on the Front Lines of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Addiction is not only a story based on survival of the front lines, but it also a story based on love, healing, recommitment, hope, and family life following the changes that deployments bring.

Sharlene also has a faith-based support group Facebook page called "Hope and Healing Recovery Support (Sharlene Prinsen) www.facebook.com/SharlenePrinsenRecoverySupport 


Information on 
Blind Devotion: Survival on the Front Lines of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Addiction:
Author: Sharlene Prinsen
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Hazelden
ISBN: 978-1-61649-409-4
E-book ISBN: 978-1-61649-450-6

Book Read and Reviewed by:
Brittney Biddle
Wife of a Wounded Combat Veteran
Family of a Vet Communications Liaison
brittney@familyofavet.com