PTSD in the News: Weekly Roundup

The first bit of news has to do with the new poll on the sidebar:

Q: Who have you told about your PTSD diagnosis?

A: Friends, Family, Partner, Colleagues, No one.

Have you left your answer yet? I'm interested in getting a sense of how much we talk. I didn't tell anyone but my family for a long time. When I finally got comfortable with the idea of my diagnosis I told a few friends so they could understand my odd behavior whenever it somehow impacted them.

I did not, however, tell the man I was seeing at the time. Right, or wrong? Well, that relationship was doomed anyway.

In a PTSD forum I participate in a new conversation has cropped up about when to tell your partner about your past. Or, more pointedly, how that past affects your present. Something to think about as the BRIDGE THE GAP workshop topic for the month is how and when and who to tell about our PTSD diagnosis.

And now, for this week's hot topics in PTSDland:

***Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Study***

If you have been affected by a traumatic or life-threatening experience, you may qualify for this study of PTSD. The research site is in New York City. For more information please click here.

Civilian PTSD

Fathers Mental Health Affects Children

Free Online Course: PTSD & Traumatic Brain Injury

How Stress Causes Illness

PTSD Rates Across Gender, Age and Marital Status

Motor Vehicle Accidents and PTSD

Recognizing Early PTSD Warning Signs

Employers could save billions by reducing stigma of mental illness

Childhood Traumas Can Shape Adult Experiences

Utilize Yoga To Help Heal Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Sleep Study at Pitt

Borrowed Trauma: Why We Relive Our Patients’ Pain and How To Avoid It

Amygdala Retraining Program

Combat PTSD

Members of Congress Affected as Military Spouses

Expert: Vets Need More Comprehensive Care

Top 10 Veterans News From Around the Country

How Brain Chemical Helps Soldiers Keep Their Heads

Conference Preps Public for Troops’ Return

The Plight of Women Soldiers

Travel Therapy Helps Vets

Pursuit of Mental Healthcare Keeps Warriors Strong

Stressed Troops Take Cues From Ancient Plays

New Quebec website helps people deal with post-traumatic stress

PTSD Options Available for Navajo Vets

Vietnam Veterans Are Falling Ill, But Why Now?

CREW and VoteVets.org Ask House Armed Services to Investigate Army Misdiagnoses of Service Members and Veterans with PTSD

PTSD in the News: Weekly Roundup

If you missed the big conversation on Thursday about how we heal and our own expertise in our healing, check it out here.

Some interesting things in the news this week, including the link between smoking and PTSD, female vets & PTSD, and a former marine singing about the sacrifices of service members.

CIVILIAN NEWS:

Smoking Could Make PTSD Worse

Anguish of Story can haunt journalists

In Plain Sight – another TV depiction of PTSD

Technique helps those with ptsd sleep again

Neuro Emotional Technique used to heal PTSD
Anyone ever heard of this or tried it??


COMBAT PTSD:

Pentagon’s New PTSD treatments

Officials, Veterans Celebrate Step Forward for Waco PTSD Center

Poor Health Related To PTSD Risk Among Vets

Wounded Iraq Warrior Fights for Normal Life

Faces of Combat: PTSD & TBI 4/20 interview with Eric Newhouse

PTSD Lessons Shared, with Ret. Command Sgt. Major

Fort Carson: Stimulus Funds May help treat vets’ stress

Sexual assault response

Top 10 Veterans news from around the country

Former Marine uses music to highlight servicemembers’ sacrifices

Nebraska VA adds new treatment for PTSD

Female vets struggling to get treatment

Erasing Traumatic War Memories

Pennsuylvania rural vets program for help

ENGLAND: Secret problem of combat stress in SAS

(Photo: i.n.d.e.p.e.n.d.e.n.t)

Survivors Speak: Why I am a PTSD Survivor

John Ortiz was a wireman on Hill 881 in Vietnam. In a guest post today, he shares his perspective on surviving both Vietnam and PTSD. For further reading, visit his blog, The Wireman, A View From the Hill.

In Vietnam

My tour of duty as a young Marine in Vietnam sometimes pales in comparison to my tour of duty to survive Combat PTSD. I mean no disrespect to my service and especially to those with whom I served. However, another battlefield lay waiting far from Southeast Asia, far from the incoming and far from my wildest imagination of things to come. No medals are awarded on this battlefield. There are no heroes in this battle, only survivors.

Many refer to me and those with whom I served on Hill 881 South as "Heroes". Certainly among us were numerous heroes in the traditional sense. But, as for myself and others who were there, we simply refer to ourselves as "Survivors". Don't get me wrong though, we all know what we experienced on Hill 881 South. We all know and respect one another for the often 'heroic' efforts we made, the hardships, endurance; the fight we gave to the enemy and that we emerged victorious from that place.

But, why Survivor and not simply Hero? Because for most of us we gave our all well within the norms of that overall experience. Possibly those norms would be extraordinary in comparison to other battlefields, but all the same, we acted as a group in the face of that which was at hand. We didn't go out of our way in most cases to do much more than that. Here's some evidence of this:

On a recent visit to my commanding officer on the hill he responded to a statement I made that at first I took some issue with. Later, after deep reflection I understood and accepted what he had said. I had described to him the circumstances that existed while doing my duties as a wireman under extreme conditions on more than one occasion. It was my job to keep the communication wires intact and often I found myself crawling out from the relative safety of our trenches to make repairs during the slight lulls of incoming rocket, artillery and mortar fire. Not to mention while also being exposed to sniper fire from the nearby hills.

When I mentioned this in conversation to the Col., he looked directly at me and said sharply, 'That's what I was paying you for.' I took some offence but knowing there were few if any medals given to wireman who crawled out and spliced broken comm wires in any conditions in Vietnam, I took his words in the context I felt he intended. Splicing comm wire in any combat condition just doesn't have that heroic sound usually associated with earning a Marine any special recognition.

I guess I would have only liked to have heard the Col. say something like, 'Yeah, John, and I deeply appreciated you doing your job under those conditions.' I wouldn't have felt deserving of any unique award or being called a hero if he had said that and I would have felt a little better than being reminded that I was only just doing what I was being paid for. So, the comments stung some and later as I reflected more on them I came to realize that I had to agree that in the realm of all things I was just only doing my job. Just as the Col. had said, I was 'only' doing what I was being paid for. I was a field wireman and part of my job was to fix broken wires on occasion in the battlefield. Therefore, I could not see myself as a hero or as having done anything individually heroic. I was just doing my job. I did that job and I survived to tell about it.

In America

In terms of PTSD I have similar thoughts and reflections and now draw a similar conclusion. I am not a hero for having had to deal with the symptoms of the condition. I have not done anything truly heroic in my struggles to defeat this enemy born of combat. I merely have been a survivor. I have merely been doing what I have been expected to do if not by others, then at least by my own self. I am a living, breathing example of a survivor.

I have survived Hill 881 South by doing the job I was paid for and I am now surviving PTSD by performing the duties of another job but, in this case to benefit myself. This job I simply must do and I must do it in the context of today, not yesterday. I have dealt with PTSD well within the norms of that condition. These are not the actions of a hero...these are the actions taken by a survivor. It does not take extraordinary efforts or superior strength usually only found in heroes. It can be accomplished by anyone who merely strives to survive.

We can survive our most difficult times. They don't have to remain as intense as those months that passed so slowly on that hill for me. They don't have to be frozen in time in those traumatic events that have led to our PTSD. Those things, as horrific as they were, are now in the past. The job at hand now is to survive PTSD. In a real sense, we are only doing what we are now being 'paid' to do.

We've survived our trauma from that time and now face PTSD. Let's keep the two situations separate and deal only with the one presently at hand. That's how we become survivors of PTSD. We handle what is in front of us. We know we did everything in our power at the time to deal with, combat, resist, prevent, and overcome the trauma at its onset. Now we only need face and conquer PTSD. This is the job at hand. There is no paycheck, no medal, no recognition to come. Pretty much the same as when experiencing the initial trauma for most of us.

So then why am I a PTSD Survivor and not a Hero? Because it's just not necessary to be a hero. It's only necessary to survive PTSD! I am a Survivor of PTSD and you will be too, if not already. There will be no medal of any kind for only doing this job..there will be no recognition......or, will there? Take a long close look and see yourself as a Survivor.... and wear that badge proudly!!

'Survivors Speak' is a weekly feature written by or interviewing a survivor and PTSD experiencer about some positive aspect of healing. If you would like to participate in the series (anonymously if you prefer), please email me thoughts, ideas, and topic suggestions: parasitesof.themind @ yahoo.com.

(Photo: Jerry Foster, Gulf War Vet)

Healing PTSD: Final Note - What I've Learned About Reaching Out

I’m thinking about the sad irony of PTSD. I get so much email about how surprised people are by how good it feels to participate in groups, leave comments on blogs, and write to other survivors. It feels so good to know I am not alone, is a constant refrain.

I felt that incredible sense of isolation, too, but here are the facts: 70% of all adults in the U.S. will experience a traumatic event in their lives. Up to 20% of those adults then experience PTSD. Of all our troops returning home, 19% struggle with PTSD.

You are not alone. You are, in fact, in a very large group of millions of people who feel just the way you do. The point of reaching out is to recognize this and be supported by it in an environment that feels right and good and that brings about healing. Building and maintaining strong emotional boundaries allows us to positively and with strength reach out and discover what a big crowd we’re actually in. Erecting emotional boundaries makes the reaching out process safer. Feeling safe is what healing is all about.

(Photo: dhammza)

PTSD Healing: It’s a Matter of Perspective, Or: Seeing It Their Way

I can’t help myself, today is just a 2-post day because I’m sitting here with 4 really great perspectives from the other side and as you begin to consider reaching out to friends and family it’s good to know what kind of compassion you can hope to receive and also, what’s on their minds:

1 – Tawnya Torres writes the blog, The Life Of A PTSD’s Spouse. Her husband deployed to Iraq and came back a different man. While Tawnya continues to raise 4 children, she also has to accept and make peace with the fact that her marriage is not the way it was before. She wrote a really great piece this past Saturday about the two ways she’s dealing with that.

2 – Ever wonder how PTSD and vet disabilities are interpreted by and affect kids? Tawnya sent me this Sesame Street promo clip for a show on this topic that airs on April 1st. Hosted by Queen Latifah with an appearance by John Mayer, the show seems to be a very poignant and positive look at bridging the gap between children and their vet parents when the family reunites at home. For further reading, here’s the press release for the show.

3 – My friend Alicia Sparks writes a mental health blog called Celebrity Psychings. In that wonderful way synchronicity works, today she began the series ‘Don’t Avert Your Eyes’ about how to approach someone who needs help; might just be a good resource to turn your friends and family onto so they can learn the etiquette of communicating with you.

4 – My friend Deb Vaughn runs a group on Facebook: I Love Someone With PTSD and I’m not Alone. In her description of the group Deb writes, In addition to those affected by this condition, there are those of us who love and support someone with PTSD. At times it can be lonely and you don't know where to turn. I am starting this group to give loved ones a place to go. It's a great resource for your friends and family so that they can explore their own experience with and outside of you.

I asked Deb to write about what it’s like to watch a loved one struggle with PTSD and still manage to maintain a close and loving relationship. She’s been really great about sharing her perspective. Here’s what she says,

Over the last few years in my journey with my partner and her struggles overcoming her trauma, I’ve learned many lessons. Some of the most important lessons have been about patience, patience with her and with me.

You see, I’m a fixer by nature. I always want to fix things, help people and make things right. PTSD isn’t that simple. There is no quick fix. There is also no simple way to learn and understand what the person you love is going through.

It’s heartbreaking to watch them struggle and to be in pain. Each day is different. You have no idea from one hour to the next what things will be like. It’s hard not to take their moods or outbursts personally. You have to keep reminding yourself that it’s part of the PTSD.

She tells me she doesn’t know how I put up with it all. I do it all because I love her and I will only be satisfied when she is better. It’s a long process. In many cases it can take years. That’s also hard to grasp. Patience is not one of my strongest traits, but somehow I’ve found it deep within myself. I’ve come to realize that it grows out of love.

Here is what I would tell her if she asked me the top 10 things I’d like her to know about my approach to helping her heal from PTSD:

1) You are not a burden. I love you and wouldn’t be with you if I couldn’t handle things or you.

2) Please bear with me, too. I’m still learning and need you to understand that I don’t always do the right thing.

3) Always be honest with me. I can handle it.

4) Sometimes when I react badly it’s because of my own past and not because of you. I have my own demons.

5) I try so hard to understand what you are going through and it’s hard to admit that no matter how much I learn, I’ll never really know what it’s like.

6) I hate to watch you suffer and it breaks my heart.

7) Communication is so important. I need you to tell me what you need or what you need me to help you with. I don’t always know what to do.

8) Sometimes I feel selfish when I want to do something for myself or ask you to do something with me that I know you don’t feel like doing.

9) It’s hard not to take your bursts of anger personally.

10) My love for you is unconditional.

(Photo: DavidDMuir)

Free EMDR for Gulf War Vets & Civilians

My friend Michael Burns is making a documentary about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), one of the alternative therapies that has found much success in the PTSD community.

Today, I received this note from Michael:

... we're still looking for more people to talk to about PTSD, especially people who might be interested in free EMDR with a highly qualified therapist during this year who might be willing to be profiled in the film. We're especially looking for Gulf War vets.

If you're interested in participating you can read more about the film here and you can contact Michael directly at hello(at)emdrmovie.com. Tell him you heard about it from Michele Rosenthal; he'll take good care of you!

MTV & Combat-PTSD: TRUE LIFE Series Tonight

Any vets going to be home tonight? You might want to check out the MTV 'True Life' Series. Airing at 6pm, this episode features Adam Coleman who shares his experience with PTSD.

For more info read Joshua Sanders' article.

If any of you watch, please report back. Let me know what you think of Coleman's story, whether or not the MTV show covered all of the necessary aspects of combat-PTSD, and if not, what you think they left out.

More Healing PTSD Testimony

So, I’m still thinking about J. (from Saturday’s post, Nov. 22) and his success in alleviating his PTSD symptoms just with the holistic action of getting out there and doing something that defines himself beyond his trauma. He brought laughter and happiness to the vets, and that helped heal him, too.

But he did more than that. J. wrote some other interesting things I think are worth sharing, on the topic of the value of distracting our minds, putting our plight in perspective, proactively determining the people we surround ourselves with, and what can bring us healing feelings. As I did before, I’ll let him tell you in his own words:

I also got very involved with [a military] newsletter and was Co-Editor. It all kept me very busy. That was a very big part of helping my mind.

Eventually I met S., my fiancee. She became a major factor in my life and that is basically what has happened. S. is a very positive person and that is very important. My mother is not a positive person at all. I can tell you for certain hanging around a person that is positive gives you hope. Hanging around a negative person can take you down. So here I am now, relocated in another state with a person I love very much. S. got me involved participating in a PTSD group. She is very upbeat and the most wonderful person I ever met in my life.

She also last May as a gift, purchased a rescue dog. Her name is A; she was found with her puppies walking on the outskirts of the Desert: surviving to feed her puppies. Rescue had her for about six months. Other families took her puppies. A. is my friend and a beautiful and loving friend. She had a rough back ground and so did I. We are the two pieces of the puzzle that simply fit. A. needs me, and I need her. I am involved with the [PTSD group and some military groups] and between it all, I seem to be doing about as best as possible. I have my days and I deal with it. The bottom line is, while entertaining in the hospital, I saw folks that had it a lot worse than I did. That opened my eyes. The trick is keeping busy.

The truth is, there is always someone who has it worse than we do. Take my friend B., for example, now into his second round of radiation for what the doctors originally thought was lung cancer that has turned out to be everything-cancer. After chemo earlier this year, and radiation on two places where the cancer had gone into his bones, now he’s in radiation again on his cerebellum. Wouldn’t we all take PTSD over this kind of pain and poor prognosis?

Perspective is key - and that includes the perspective of ourselves as well as those around us! PTSD, while horrible and awful, is not a condition without its progress. There is always the hope of overcoming it, and the certainty that aspects of it can be alleviated. Best of all, unlike cancer and other such illnesses, much of PTSD progress comes directly from what we do about it. The treatments we try, the contacts we make, the communities we join, the commitments we choose, the actions we take, the decisions we put in place, the ideas we hold, both about ourselves and our condition. All of these are within our control.

Now there’s an idea: Rather than be controlled by PTSD we can take back control. Hmmmm. A little at a time, not all at once, but just a smidgeon each day. How about, for example, going through just one day seeing it from outside your PTSD experience? How about looking at the world through a perspective divorced from our darkness? How about today you choose to be someone else in how you approach the world? Think of someone you admire. What qualities does he/she have that you wish you had? How does he/she approach the day, ie. with gusto, hope, goals, excitement? Emulate that person, just for an hour today. Too much? 1/2 an hours then; 15 minutes. Do it again tomorrow. After a year of this sort of positive, small step-taking process, where do you think you’d be? I can guarantee you'd be farther along in your quest for PTSD freedom. Care to place a little wager on that?

Listen, Norman Cousins cured a life-threatening neurological disorder simply by laughing; he rented funny movies and laughed himself back to health. Shouldn’t we be able to do that? I mean, after all, we only have to cure coping mechanisms that have gone astray, not a disease.

Mental Health Resource for Combat PTSD

Cruising around the net today I stumbled upon this nifty site offering free mental health services for military personnel and their families.

They are committed to all combat related issues, including PTSD. As their Mission page states:

In addition to the physical injuries sustained, countless servicemen and servicewomen have experienced psychological symptoms directly related to their deployment. According to a RAND report released in April 2008, over 18 percent of troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan--nearly 300,000 troops--have symptoms of post-traumatic stress or major depression. At the same time, about 19 percent of service members reported that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury. And let us not forget: millions of Americans belong to the families of these servicemen and servicewomen. Spouses, children, parents, siblings, and unmarried partners of military personnel are all being adversely affected by the stress and strain of the current military campaign.

If you make use of this site and find it helpful, let me know!

http://www.giveanhour.org/skins/gah/home.aspx?mode=user

PTSD Testimony

Yesterday a retired marine officer told me that my 25 year struggle with PTSD and my work with it now qualifies me “as an honorary Marine because,” he said, “you adapt, improvise and overcome”, which is the Marine mentality, too. I can’t tell you how, well… Honored that made me feel. The work we all do is hard and can feel so isolating, but we are all, civilian and military alike, facing the same struggle, feeling the same symptoms, wanting the same relief. I salute all of us struggling to improve. Every small victory is one in the overall battle. Fight on!

Which reminds me…. Have you decided to pursue joy? Have you been considering it, just a little? At least tell me I’ve got you thinking.

If you’re still not sure you can trust me, how about testimonial from someone else? J. is also a vet and someone who has made great progress in his own healing partly by following something that brings him joy: magic.

J.’s Desert Storm tour of land duty ruined his feet so that he can no longer bear weight on them for any extensive period of time. After 6 years and 11 surgeries he is disabled and PTSD, and yet: defining a new life for himself. He has used the pursuit of his joy of magic to progress his PTSD healing. I’ll let him tell you in his own words:

I was a magician and asked to make a trip to two VA hospitals to do magic for the veterans. It was more or less close-up magic and going from room to room. I thought the idea was great and I can do comedy like you would not believe. The first hospital we went to we visited a hospice unit, spinal cord unit, and a unit for veterans that were ill and too old to be at home because they did not have anyone to take care of them. That was one of the biggest emotional roller coaster rides of my life. I noticed when we went room to room that the folks were enjoying the bed to bed magic and laughing. That was like a major turn on for me. I left the hospital that day feeling better than I ever did. Since I was in the middle of all these surgeries at the time, my comrades pushed me around in a wheelchair. I was not allowed to place any weight on my feet.

The next step was to go to a hospital where I knew was going to be a lot different as we were going to visit the warriors that lost legs and arms. For me it was both educational and once again, the magic proved to make these folks laugh. I was doing very blue humor and some great close up magic and these folks were eating it all up. As selfish as it sounded, the magical entertainment was as therapeutic for our warriors as it was for me and I was getting a real boost.

Inspirational, no?

One of the major impacts of the pursuit of joy is the fact of its ability to distract us from our PTSD demons. It's not enough just to be busy. We're all busy with work, family, friends, etc., but it doesn’t always do any good. Sometimes the stress of being busy can complicate things further. For myself, I was on a crash course of busyness for a long time, thinking that if I kept running I could leave the demons in the dust. Let's just say, that didn't work so well. Demons are faster than the speed of light. And they're tireless, so while I crashed and burned each time and then sank deeper into PTSD, they shook with hysterical laughter that I actually thought I could escape them.

Stop running. We cannot escape PTSD through a score of medications and destructive behaviors. We can escape it by transcending it; that begins by finding another focus for our minds. It begins with turning our attention toward the present and the future in a positive, self-supportive, joyful way. It means engaging with the untraumatized self. That self can be brought back to the forefront of who we are. It lurks there, in the shadows of fear and it is up to us to coax it back out into the light. Joy can do that. Joy is like offering a kid a lollipop – the eyes light up, the mouth waters, there’s an uncontrollable energy that bounces in the body.

Do something that reminds you who you were before the trauma occurred. The pure you. The unafraid, inexperienced, uncynical you who looked at the world as if it were good and held tremendous possibility. Can’t think of anything? No problem. I can't remember much of my pre-trauma self or my life before either. In that case, it's time to construct the new you. Do something that brings you joy – pure, unmitigated, face-stretching smiling joy. Walk toward that other self you know can - you want - to be.

Move toward the experience of that ascent of the spirit, even if it’s just for a second. What will you do? What makes you feel giddy and indestructible? Take a (small) step toward that. Act on it. Begin NOW.

Good News for PTSDers

So… Yesterday did you find some one act to affirm your desire to be well? I’m thinking about you. I’m hoping you’re at least thinking about doing something that can facilitate a positive attitude toward wellness.

Even though I’m healed, I still reinforce this attitude on a weekly basis. I’ll give you an example: John and I dance 3 – 4 nights a week. It’s part of my joy habit. It’s part of my commitment to being well. The upcoming weekend looks like this:

Friday night: La Fonda in West Palm Beach; a delicious Cuban restaurant that turns into a latin nightclub after 10pm with the best music mix of salsa, bachata, merengue, valenato, cumbia and tropicale.

Saturday afternoon: Salsa Fest! An all day outdoor salsa party with such greats as Victor Rojas and Eddy Herrera; an event that combines my love of dance with my love of community events that bring together so many different people for one shared passion.

Saturday evening: Milonga (Argentine tango dance party) in Deerfield Beach. Our favorite Argentine tango instructors are teaching a class and then hosting a party until the wee hours of the following morning.

Sunday: We’ll drive down to Pompano to dance in a 10,000 square foot ballroom; 5 – 8pm is all latin, 8 – 11 is all ballroom. What a spectacular 6 hours!

OK, maybe dance is not your thing. And maybe you don’t have that much time to devote to joy. That’s just fine. It isn’t the activity or amount of time spent, it’s the quality of joy you derive. You can do something for an hour a week and that will be enough to remind you that joy exists. You can do something for ½ an hour and that will be enough to ignite the desire for more. The main purpose here is threefold:

1) to remind you that you can feel joy (I know, I know, it doesn’t seem possible, but just try it. You’ll be surprised how possible it is).

2) to begin developing a habit of joy that increases your positive attitude, which will in turn support your PTSD healing.

3) to ignite that spark - that I want to LIVE! spirit – that DESIRE to be well that is the crux of PTSD healing.

Don’t tell me it can’t be done. I know it can because I have done it. It was tough. It seemed like an idiotic, insurmountable, useless task I put before myself --- until it worked.

And don't tell me I was not as badly PTSD as you, because I was at least as bad as you, if not worse. Don’t be fooled by my positive attitude. For 25 years I was (to put it bluntly) a mentally and physically dysfunctional mess. And then I decided to do the work.

I’m asking you, I’m begging you, for the sake of your own happiness – DO THE WORK. Make the commitment. We can get there together.

Wouldn't it be great to be part of a community of healed PTSD experiencers instead of a group of PTSD acceptors? I think it would. Let's shoot for that.

The Veterans Forum: My PTSD Radio Interview

Hello, Readers! Today marks my internet radio debut on Passionate Internet Radio Voices (PIVTR). I’ll be the featured guest on E. Everett McFall’s internet radio talk show, THE VETERANS FORUM. Join us today for a positive, proactive discussion about coping with and healing PTSD. Topics will include:

-- Educating sufferers, caregivers and careproviders about PTSD
-- Building a PTSD resource community
-- Necessity of sufferers participating in the healing process
-- Constructing a post-trauma identity
-- Committing to the pursuit of joy
-- Benefits of hypnotherapy
-- Living a joyful, PTSD-free life

The show airs live from 3:30 – 5:30pm EST, and can be downloaded at any time via the November 12 link on the PIVTR website.

To listen live: http://www.pivtr.com/

To download later: http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/Arch-Everett.htm

We will be taking on-air callers. If you wish to participate in the show, you may phone in toll-free at: 1866-977-4887.

I hope you'll call in and talk to us about bridging the gap between PTSD and a joyful life!

Veterans & Combat-Related PTSD

Since today is Veterans Day, it seems appropriate for this post to be about veterans only, to thank you for your service on the field, and honor your continued presence here at home.

At a bridal shower this past weekend I met Becky, a vet who had been a nurse in Vietnam. We spoke at length about PTSD and the lack of public knowledge and awareness. We also spoke about how universal is ‘The PTSD Experience’. And we discussed something else that really shocked me to read recently, which is this:

"the V.A. requires that a Veteran has achieved one of several service ribbons in order to get PTSD benefits i.e. the Combat Action ribbon, Combat Infantry badge, Purple Heart, Bronze Star with V to name a few. However, for those that don't merit such an award by the military’s standards they are doomed to have to reconstruct their in-war stressor to prove they witnessed a horrific sight or came under fire."

This hardly seems fair. As all of us PTSD sufferers know, a trauma can be subtle, almost invisible to the human eye in some cases. To send our men and women into battle and not offer them equal support when they get home as we should be giving them on the battlefield is a horrible way to thank them for risking their lives. To demand that they prove they have been traumatized is criminal and ridiculous.

I was encouraged this morning to hear on the news about RESET, a new program being implemented by the military to offer psychological readjustment programs to returning soldiers and their families. Does anyone have info on this? I can’t find anything concrete and would like to know more. As we’ve all experienced, during trauma we do what we must to survive, but the cost of that to us afterward can be almost (if not more) psychologically damaging than the original trauma itself. Developing a program to directly address this issue would be of great benefit to military personnel as well as their families.

Finally, combat-related PTSD is getting a little bit more exposure, and from sources that could really help sufferers. Our new president elect, Barack Obama, was the co-author of a 2007 letter to Secretary Gates requesting an accounting from the Dept. of Defense on the number of psychological injuries sustained by service members since October 2001 and how the military reports on and invests in treating these less visible psychological injuries. The letter specifically mentions PTSD. The full text may be found here:

http://obama.senate.gov/press/071023-obama_bond_dema/

In the past year alone there have been several reports that diagnosed military PTSD cases jumped significantly, as much as 50% – that’s over 40,000 newly diagnosed military personnel, and that’s only reported cases. Here are links to 2 articles on this topic from May 2008:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24842653/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/27/wartime-ptsd-cases-jumped_n_103779.html

Finally, Dr. Matthew Tull wrote a brief but good recently historical overview about PTSD in the military. Click here to view:

http://ptsd.about.com/od/prevalence/a/MilitaryPTSD.htm

As I read these articles I’m wondering how military personnel feel about the care they receive, and also, how they feel about the experience of PTSD itself. Do they feel differently than we civilians do? It must be so difficult to survive the theater of war and the power of the enemy, only to return home and be undone by the power of your own mind. If any vets are willing to share their thoughts, please email me anytime.

Recently, I accepted an invitation to join the creative team of a new PTSD organization: Dream Peace Foundation. Launching in January 2009, the mission of this organization is the same as mine: to spread the word that PTSD is eminently treatable. I’ll write more on Dream Peace when it actually gets off the ground. For now, I’ll just add that a large part of its focus is to reach out to vets with combat-related PTSD. I’m hoping that some of our advocacy work will eventually include breaking the barriers to all military sufferers, regardless of whether or not their stressor meets military standards.

Tomorrow I’ll be the featured guest on E. Everett McFall’s internet radio talk show, THE VETERAN’S FORUM. We'll be discussing healing PTSD. The show airs live from 3:30 – 5:30pm EST, and can be downloaded at any time via the November 12 link on Passionate Internet Radio Voices (PIVTR).

To listen live: http://www.pivtr.com/

To download later: http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/Arch-Everett.htm

We have a lot of work to do, my fellow survivors! In order for us all to get the care we need and work our way toward a trauma/PTSD-free life, it’s imperative that we begin using our suffering toward a better end. We can do this by uniting together, whether through public organizations or our personal actions within our own worlds – or both! What can you do today?