__Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au.
Monday June 1
Caught in the crosshairs
“It seems One Nation would have Andrew Hastie perjure himself if that is what will clear Ben Roberts-Smith. If Roberts-Smith is innocent, as he claims, the courts will find it. If not, Hastie’s evidence, if asked for and given, will likely play only a partial role in the outcome. One Nation, openly targeting a potential witness for what they assume he may or may not say, has shown themselves to be utterly lacking in integrity, of which quality Hastie seems to have in abundance.”
Graeme Osborne, Southern River, WA
What’s a crisis?
“I appreciate the Jon Wannberg’s comment on the excessive use of the word ‘trauma’. There is another word that has crept into political, media and now common use – crisis! When does a difficulty become a crisis? If one third of the population is having difficulty with some part of life and two thirds are not, is that a crisis? To me, a crisis is partly objective and partly social. Two parts of society can face the same problem and can define it differently. Politicians, organisations with an axe to grind and the news media are wanting us to jump from problem to crisis. Bah humbug.”
Paul Campbell, West End QLD
On trauma
“I read your recent article on trauma with great interest, though some dissatisfaction. I welcome the destigmatising effects of increasing public engagement with trauma, while worrying about its growing trivialisation. Trauma – alongside broader ‘psychology-speak’ – is increasingly appropriated by mainstream culture, where discursive practices are shaped by more privileged experiences; flattening important distinctions and obscuring the realities of those living with profound or enduring trauma-related distress. While this may reflect changing language, it comes at a cost if we lose sight of the experiences and forms of care most needed by people living with significant trauma-related distress.”
Sophia Schroeder
Tuesday June 2
One Nation’s treatment of journos
“It is deeply concerning to me that there has been so much silence around One Nation ejecting ABC journalists. There is no democracy without a free press, and allowing this to slide under the radar shows that we are already in the process of going down the path of the US. One Nation is counting on widespread situational ethics and moral cowardice to become ‘mainstream’. It is essential that the focus is kept on their bigoted and racist agenda. Interesting that this issue was not mentioned on ABC’s ‘Insiders’ program.”
Jane Davis, Melbourne VIC
Sleepy drivers
“As a sufferer of driver fatigue, I was keen to read this article. I hoped the article might mention the benefit of having a supply of snacks on hand for a long drive. As a young woman living in the country many years ago, I had great difficulty driving the 55 kilometres from home to ‘town’, or back, without feeling drowsy. A noticeboard in a doctor’s surgery advised that eating something was helpful for drowsy drivers. I knew I was going to have to eat quite a bit to keep me awake, so I decided apples would be ideal because each one would take a while to eat and be relatively low in calories. For a start I would often need to eat up to seven apples on the 55-kilometre trip! As the years went by, the number of apples reduced until eventually I could confidently leave home with just one apple to get me safely to my destination. Just reaching for the apple had me wide awake. I can only assume that somehow I was training my brain to stay awake.”
Christine Stevenson, Geelong, VIC 
