For the last 40 years, Dr Charles Marmars’ patients have shared with him some of the most harrowing events imaginable. From veterans recalling battleground horrors, to sexual assault survivors, to people disturbed from hideous road accidents, the chairman of psychiatry and director of the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Research Program at NYU Langone Health has heard it all.
“Remember the Honolulu United Airlines flight 811?” he asks. On 24 February 1989, the United Airlines Boeing 747 was flying over the Pacific when a cargo door blew out, killing nine passengers.
