PTSD Patrol Kathie Costos February 24, 2019 I have been unplugged for a few days to spend time with some very dear old friends of ours. Over the weekend we talked about old times and how our lives have changed since we were young. My friend Ellen and I shared how much we have taken active places in the lives of our husbands and unwilling to settle for just being along for the ride.
This morning I was wondering why so many younger family members are not taking an active part in the journey too. Then it occurred to me that maybe no one ever explained to them how much power they do have over everything. Passenger Passive is just along for the ride and not paying attention to where they are going, or noticing how they got to where they were.
Passsenger: a person who is traveling in a vehicle but is not operating it or working as an employee in it.
Captain Cruel takes advantage of the vulnerability of the person they are with instead of helping them. Navigator Knowing charts the way to get everyone to their destination as quickly and safely as possible.
Navigator :a person in a vehicle who decides on the direction in which the vehicle travels.
Point Man Partner acknowledges the needs of someone they care about and finds a way to make their journey a much happier trip. So which one are you? If you are a family member, you are part of the journey and you can change the trip for everyone. Yes, without knowing it, you play a major role in all of this. You can make it worse for everyone or you can make it so much better. While peer support is one of the best ways for recovering from PTSD, what Point Man International Ministries discovered is, family support works better than anything. read more here
On suicides, Air Force’s top chaplain preaches hope over darkness to Yokota airmen
STARS AND STRIPES By SETH ROBSON Published: February 21, 2019
Schaick, 60, who commands 2,000 chaplains and religious affairs airmen, told the Yokota personnel that life can go to a dark place, but it always gets better.
Air Force chief of chaplains Maj. Gen. Steven Schaick told airmen gathered for a prayer breakfast Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the Enlisted Club at Yokota Air Base, Japan, that everyone experiences "moments of darkness" but that things get better in the end. SETH ROBSON/STARS AND STRIPES
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Even a two-star general has “moments of darkness,” the Air Force chief of chaplains told servicemembers Thursday at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo.
Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Steven Schaick told several airmen gathered for a National Prayer Breakfast event at the Yokota Enlisted Club that, like everyone, he experiences disorientation, for example, on days when there are complaints at work, his kids don’t answer the phone or he has issues with his wife.
“There is a spirit in this world who wants us to believe that is where it ends,” he said. “There are airmen all over Yokota who believe this even now … We had 100 airmen last year who decided that death by suicide was their only way out.”
Yokota’s 374th Maintenance Group had a string of airman suicides in 2016 and Pacific Air Forces dispatched a “suicide prevention support team” to investigate there and at Misawa and Kadena air bases. read more here
How Becoming an Entrepreneur Helped Me Overcome Suicidal Thoughts
Entrepreneur Steven Kuhn GUEST WRITER Principle of Immediate Impact Consulting February 13, 2019
Army veteran Steven Kuhn discusses his ongoing battle with Combat PTSD.
After years of pushing away loved ones, ignoring help and trying to forget my past, I came to the realization that embracing Combat PTSD as a source of strength was my only way out. Sounds crazy, I know, but hear me out. It shows me that I went through war and survived. I saw my inner darkness and lived there, saw death by my own hand, and lived through it all. Combat PTSD gives me the ability to do anything I want.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The artillery was still dropping as I ran up to Sgt. Young Min Dillon’s position. I heard he was hit and arrived just in time to share the last moments of his life. That was 1991 in Iraq. I feel fortunate to have been there and at the same time, it haunts me every day because it should have been me. At least that’s how I feel and that is where my doc says “it” all started with my Combat PTSD.
Veterans are an interesting demographic. We volunteer to do things most people don’t or won’t. Once we enlist, we are told what to do and when to do it. The basics are taken care of so that we as soldiers, marines, airmen and seamen can hyper-focus on our one task at hand. We become part of a massive team effort. In the military, no one needs to say a word: who you are, what you have done, where you served, how long you served and what you accomplished is all seen on your uniform.
I know all about the realities and horrors of PTSD firsthand. In 2008, I attempted suicide after leaving the military. At the time, I was staying in Germany where I was stationed. I attempted to grab a police officer’s weapon to shoot myself and when that didn’t work I grabbed a knife to finish the job. I came out the other side with a feeling of hopelessness I never thought I could overcome. read more here
'I could feel my skin burning again' | Former firefighter opens up about his fight with PTSD
KDSK News Author: Casey Nolen February 20, 2019
Firefighters and police officers are five times more likely to suffer from PTSD and more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.
"A broken arm, you can put a cast on it and it will heal. PTSD and what firefighters and police officers deal with, this is something they can struggle with the rest of their life," said Anthony Bass with SSM Health Treatment and Recovery who counsels first responders.
It was a snow covered January night in 2014 when Tim Kirchoff and his crew arrived at a burning house on Nancy Drive in St. Charles. The fire looked like it was mostly out, but it flared up while Kirchoff and three fellow firefighters were in the basement, trapping them.
"I got to the point that I curled up on the floor and basically told my wife and kids goodbye," Kirchoff said. He can remember the fire like it was yesterday. "I knew this is the way I was going to die."
Somehow all four trapped firefighters made it out alive. Several surgeries helped mend Kirchoff's injuries on the outside. But inside, he was only getting worse.
"I was having nightmares. I was reliving it. I could literally feel my skin burning again; I couldn't sleep," said Kirchoff of the months after the fire. read more here
Law enforcement peer group meets in Dothan hoping to help others
WTVY News By Ken Curtis Feb 19, 2019
A few years ago, Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza's fellow officer took his life. Valenza often wonders if he could have done something to prevent the tragedy.
Law enforcement officers, others attend seminar in Dothan to help them cope with job stress. Photo from February 19, 2019.
That prompted him to to organize seminars that help law enforcement officers cope with job related stress.
Alabama Fire Marshal's Office Investigator Jason Clifton attended his fourth seminar in Dothan Tuesday.
“It's a life changer to know you're not alone and you don't have to keep it bottled up inside because, if you keep things bottled up inside, you'll create a bomb that will explode,” Clifton said.
In 2017, more officers nationwide died from suicide than in the line of duty,” according to the website officer.com. Statistics show 140 police officers and 103 firefighters committed suicide.
Making the figures more disturbing, the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliances estimates only about 40 percent of firefighter suicides are reported. read more here
Fate of two soldiers sheds light on veteran suicide, points out where to get help
Delaware Online Jerry Smith February 19, 2019
Pfc. Jacob Jonza (left), and Sgt. Daniel Grime of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, provide security for their platoon during a patrol through a business district in Baghdad's Sha'ab neighborhood in 2008. (Photo11: Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor/Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
Free: This abridged version of the story about veteran suicides is presented free as a public service to allow access to information to get help. To read the full story, please subscribe online.
Francis Graves III and Jacob Jonza each carried emotional scars after returning home from military deployments to the Middle East.
Ultimately, each tried to take his life. One lived, while the other died.
About 24 First State veterans kill themselves each year, part of 6,000 veterans who commit suicide nationwide, according to a 2016 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs survey.
Because the number has risen in the last decade, both the Trump administration and Wilmington Veterans Administration Medical Center have made veteran suicide a priority.
Graves, from Townsend, lost his battle years after returning from a stint in Saudi Arabia when he killed himself in 2015.
Jonza tried to kill himself in 2008, but was saved. read more here
As you'll see in the video, the pain never stops for those you leave behind. Stop spreading suicide and start inspiring healing! Go to the link and look at what help is out there for you in Delaware. If you live in another area of the country, you can find help to heal there too~
Mixed Results With Suicide Prevention Texts for Soldiers
Primary endpoints missed, but intervention showed benefit in secondary outcomes MedPage Today by Elizabeth Hlavinka, Staff Writer February 13, 2019
The intervention was based on a caring letters study in the 1970s co-designed by Jerome Motto, who hypothesized that increasing connection would decrease the rates of suicide in a civilian population, and that this could be accomplished by sending a series of letters expressing care and concern, Kerbrat told MedPage Today.
Supportive text messages did not decrease suicidal ideation or "risk incidents" among military personnel at risk for suicide in a randomized trial, but there appeared to be significant benefit for some important secondary outcomes including suicide attempts.
No significant reductions were observed in terms of suicide risk incidents -- inpatient admission or evacuation associated with suicidality -- or current suicide ideation at 12 months among military personnel who were assigned to the text-based intervention compared with standard care alone, reported Amanda Kerbrat, MSW, of the University of Washington, and colleagues.
Stein noted this intervention's failure to meet its primary endpoints could be due to military personnel being "embedded in a rich social milieu that, if nothing else, is hardly isolating," and that, in fact, the social disconnectedness theory behind Caring Contact might not apply to this population. read more here
"Social isolating" is not their biggest problem. Hiding what is going on with them is! Not knowing what PTSD is feeds the stigma and prevents them from opening their mouths or tapping their fingers on a keypad. And yes, you read the year right...but the DoD does not tell you that part. Want to save them? Then explain to the what PTSD is, what it does, and HOW TO DEFEAT IT! Tell them they can #TakeBackYourLife before they think of taking their lives. Yep, they do not know that one either!
WKRN By: Adam Snider Posted: Feb 14, 2019 12:07
CHRISTIANA, Tenn. (WKRN) - A dream decades in the making was nearly taken away from a local veteran.
"There's dark days out there. Depression, I've had to fight through them. But man, lately I've kind of forgotten about them." Erin Schaefer
Outside of Christiana though, for the last several weeks, he's worked to achieve this goal.
"My dad was a trucker so that's all I've known," said Erin Schaefer, an Army veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. "I just love the open road, being out there with the truck. Just myself and my thoughts."
Those thoughts sometimes take him back to the Army and his final term in Afghanistan.
It was on this trip in 2010, that he was in the wrong truck at the wrong time.
"Was out on a convoy taking supplies from one base to the next. Came to a halt because the other truck in the rear of our convoy had become disabled," he explained. "Started moving again, and the IED blast went off."
Erin is now an amputee, losing both his legs below the knee.
"There's dark days out there," he said. "Depression, I've had to fight through them. But man, lately I've kind of forgotten about them."
He's found new life, thanks in part to an old passion.
Erin is now seeking his CDL, at the Truck Driver Institute (TDI) outside Christiana. read more here
Widow of fallen CHP officer launches suicide prevention project
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (KCRA) It’s been nearly four months since California Highway Patrol Officer Sean Poore died while on duty. The 9-year veteran committed suicide inside his patrol car on Oct. 23.
Poore leaves behind his wife, Samantha Poore, and their three young children.
“I just feel guilty because I wish I would have paid attention to those little things that I just didn’t -- I just didn’t see,” Poore said. “I thought he was getting the help that he needed and he wasn’t sharing that he wasn’t.”
Now, Poore is partnering with a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy to launch The Not OK Project, a suicide prevention organization focused on helping first responders. They want police officers, firefighters, paramedics and dispatchers to know that "it’s OK to not be OK."
“We had an amazing life together, and I never thought that this would be my life," Poore said. "So I’m just going to do this for him."
Poore didn’t realize her husband’s depression ran so deep. She said they lived “a Cinderella story,” falling in love at first sight on the first day of college and having three beautiful children. read more here
PTSD Patrol Kathie Costos February 10, 2019 Last week on PTSD Patrol Change the Road You Are On I used a video of the road, filmed at 5:00 am, showing how lonely the road can be when there are only a few people on it. That is the way it can seem when you have PTSD. You can feel as if you are alone, but the truth is, everyone you know is tied to you in one way or another.
I used the road film because my ego took over. I have been in a lot of pain again because of my back. I didn't want anyone to see me in pain, so, I used that video. Ashamed of myself ever since. Not because of being in pain, but because I wanted to hide it from everyone. Yes, imagine that! The one who is constantly preaching on letting people know you are hurting, did a lot of work to hide it. No one ever said I was the brightest bulb in the box. So, yesterday, the pain is actually worse than last week. I apologized for my stupid decision, and then went on to talk about how if you do not #BreakTheSilence, no one can help you because you will not give them the chance. If you think that deciding to leave the pain by committing suicide, you need to be aware of a so many things, it would take a year to post! The first thing is, picture yourself as a bus driver. They do not have empty busses for very long. More and more people travel where the driver takes them. That is the way your life is. More and more people are connected to you. Family, friends, people you work with, are all obvious connections, but there are many more. Add to the list of passengers your family members' friends. Your friends' families. Your coworkers' families and friends. See where I'm going with this? read more here
Veterans join forces to combat PTSD by restoring 1960s tank
Ipswich Star UK Amy Gibbons February 10, 2019
“So the idea is to get these guys who are maybe suffering from PTSD or just from being lonely in civvy street and want to come down and be around military personnel again.”
From left to right: Paul Werden-Hutchinson, Brian Munro, Dave Taylor, Dusty Duddridge, Thomas Young and Duncan Mansfield with the Chieftan tank they are restoring at Raydon Airfield Picture: Neil Didsbury
An Army veteran who served across two continents is heading up a project to restore a priceless piece of British history in an effort to help ex-servicemen cope with PTSD.
Duncan Mansfield, who served in Ireland, Germany, Belize and Canada, bought a 1960s Chieftan Tank two years ago – and has now made it his mission to restore the vehicle to its former glory.
The 1960's Chieftan tank which is being restored at Raydon Airfield Picture: Neil Didsbury
Based at Raydon Airfield near Ipswich, the project serves as an opportunity for ex-servicemen living with loneliness or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to spend time in a semi-military environment, where they can begin to process their experiences and get to know like-minded veterans.
Speaking about the idea behind the restoration group, Mr Mansfield said: “When you leave the armed forces it’s such a culture shock to come back into civvy street, and a lot of the guys really miss working with old soldiers again and being around them and having the same experiences.
“So the idea is to get these guys who are maybe suffering from PTSD or just from being lonely in civvy street and want to come down and be around military personnel again.” read more here
US Special Ops suicides triple in 2018, as military confronts the issue
CNN Barbara Starr February 2, 2019
Washington (CNN)Suicides among active duty military personnel assigned to US Special Operations Command tripled in 2018, in a disturbing and as yet unexplained spike, CNN has learned.
Special Operations units saw 22 deaths by suicide in 2018, almost triple the eight cases seen in 2017, according to figures provided to CNN by the command.
SOCOM, as it's known, is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations component of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force that take on counterterrorism and other specialized missions. Based in Tampa, Florida, the command includes some of the military's most highly trained and effective fighting forces, including the Army's Delta Force and the Navy's SEAL Team Six. While sudden spikes in suicide rates have been noted in both the military and civilian populations, military officials who spoke to CNN said what has happened at SOCOM is striking. The surge in SOCOM suicides comes as the Marine Corps and Navy are experiencing 10-year highs in the number of suicide deaths. read more here
PTSD Patrol Kathie Costos February 3, 2019 Whatever happened to you that started PTSD was out of your control. That is the only way to get PTSD. It hits you! It is not something that started inside of you. It just ended up there. The fact you have PTSD means you survived something that could have killed you. Isn't it time you started to live like a survivor?
You have the ability to determine your own destiny from this moment on. It is up to you to suffer in silence, more afraid to ask for help, than you were of what set off PTSD in the first place, or, take control of the rest of your life. Just like learning how to drive your vehicle and control it, you can learn how to drive your life and heal it. Just spend as much time discovering a new way of living instead of spending so much time suffering. It isn't easy and will take a lot of hard work. Then again, it has not been easy feeling as if all hope has vanished. I can assure you it has not. You just stopped looking for it. read more here
Personal note: I am in a lot of pain right now with my back and did not want to show it on video. I just wanted to let you know that no matter how much you are hurting, there is always something positive to find if you look for it.
The U.S. military finished 2018 with a troubling, sad statistic -- it experienced the highest number of suicides among active-duty personnel in at least six years.
Without the Army reporting the number of soldiers who died by suicide in the last quarter of 2018, a total of 286 active-duty members took their lives during the year, including 57 Marines, 68 sailors, 58 airmen and, through Oct. 1, 103 Army soldiers.
The deaths equal the total number of active-duty personnel who died by suicide in 2017. With the Army's fourth-quarter data, could reach the record 321 suicides recorded in 2012.
update fromCNN Sixty-eight active duty Navy personnel died by suicide in 2018 with 57 cases among the Marine Corps, according to data obtained by CNN. Another 18 Marines in the Reserve forces either are confirmed to have committed suicide or their deaths are being investigated as suspected suicides.
No More Excuses
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos January 27, 2019 The number of service members committing suicide continues to rise. The number of veterans committing suicide continues to rise. The number of people actually in charge with a clue of what needs to be done, continues to be absent without leave!!!! Yes, they are AWOL! How is it that there are people all over this country knowing exactly what works, what the troops need to hear, what veterans need to hear, YET WE ARE NEVER HEARD BY THOSE IN CHARGE? How is it that we have known what works for decades but the "experts" are clueless? They come up with slogans when we come up with results. They come up with excuses, when we come up with plans. What makes all of this worse for us is, we know there is absolutely no need of all this suffering when they could be healing and still serving. This is totally unacceptable because all of these suicides were preventable!
Suicide rate among active-duty Marines at a 10-year high
CNN Barbara Starr January 25, 2019
"While there is no dishonor in coming up short, or needing help, there is no honor in quitting. For those who are struggling ... our Marine Corps, our families, and our Nation need you; we can't afford to lose you." General Robert Neller
(CNN)The number of confirmed and suspected suicides in the active-duty Marine Corps reached a 10-year high in 2018 with 57 cases, according to new Marine Corps data obtained by CNN.
The United States Marine Corps emblem hanging on a wall at the Joint Detention Forces Headquarters at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba, April 09, 2014. AFP PHOTO/MLADEN ANTONOV
Another 18 Marines in the Reserve forces either are confirmed to have committed suicide or their deaths are being investigated as suspected suicides. Marine Corps sources say the service is concerned that 2018 may have seen 75 suicides even with the extensive mental health programs available. Many of the cases are young Marines who have not deployed overseas and have not been in combat -- a situation that has been seen in other branches of the military as well. "Don't make them just numbers," one Marine Corps official pleaded when making the data available to CNN. read more here
Yet again, one more reminder that when the DOD bought all the FUBAR "resilience" BS, they failed to notice that if it did not work for those who did not deploy, THEN IT WOULD NOT WORK FOR THOSE WHO WERE DEPLOYED MULTIPLE TIMES!!! Here are a couple of videos from a Marine veteran with PTSD. Listen to him and know that you can #TakeBackYourLife and live stronger!
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Dec 31, 2016 This is Jonnie. He has survived three attempted suicides and spent time as a homeless veteran. A year ago, he never thought he would be where he is today. He is healing and he wants to make sure other veterans get the message of something worth living for instead of the message spread about suicides. Spend next year healing and let this New Year be the year you begin to change again, only this time, for the better!
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Mar 11, 2018 Sunday morning empowerment zone features Marine veteran filmed yesterday at the Orlando Nam Knights bikeweek party. His simple message is empowerment! Take control of your life from this moment on. It's up to you where you go from here!
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Apr 14, 2018 My buddy Jonnie has been fighting to take his life back from PTSD. He is doing everything possible to make his life better. Working on his mind, his spirit and his body! He is at the American Combat Club in Downtown Orlando.
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Jul 22, 2018 PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone Jonnie shares his message of getting in control over the road you choose to be on. You can sit back and feel miserable as a victim or you can choose the road to heal as a survivor.
Paul Muschick: Carbon County soldier survived Afghanistan. Then he lost 'the war at home.'
McCall Paul Muschick January 25, 2019
“We can’t undo what happened but if we could stop some other soldier from doing what Michael did and some other family going through what we did, this is all worth it.” Mike Wargo
Army Spc. Michael Wargo returned from military service in Afghanistan with "terrific survivor guilt" and PTSD, according to his parents. He took his life eight years later, leaving them a long video message in which he described his pain and how he suffered in silence. (CONTRIBUTED/MIKE AND SARAH WARGO)
When Michael Wargo returned from war in the Middle East, he looked fine. But he wasn’t.
He had endured a lot. Like many soldiers, he suffered in silence. He didn’t want anyone to know how troubled he was.
Eight years later, he took his life.
The suicide rate among veterans is high. They make up 8.3 percent of the adult population and account for 14.3 percent of adult suicides, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. An average of 20 veterans die by suicide each day.
Wargo’s parents, Mike and Sarah Wargo of Mahoning Township, are on a mission of their own now: to reduce that number. They are using their son’s story to illustrate the need for more to be done to stop veterans from losing “the war at home.”
“We can’t undo what happened but if we could stop some other soldier from doing what Michael did and some other family going through what we did, this is all worth it,” Mike Wargo said.
The Wargos reached out to me after reading a column I wrote about the VA not spending the bulk of the money it allotted for suicide prevention advertising last year.
The VA said that happened because leadership was in flux and the suicide prevention program was being realigned. It said changes since have been made and nearly twice as much is planned for suicide prevention outreach this year.
read more here
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos January 26, 2019 Why do people decide that they are willing to take jobs that could cost them their lives? Did they just wake up one morning and think, "I'd die for that chance?"
Whenever it happened, whenever they went to begin training for the jobs dedicated to saving lives, or defending a nation, that is exactly what they decided was worth it. Now, all of us can understand when what they try to save us from, changes everything for us. So why can't we understand what all the times they do it, does to them? How oblivious are we? How self-centered are we when we ignore what those jobs are doing to them? We get PTSD from one traumatic event. They get PTSD from far too many of them. Then they have this twisted thought that they were supposed to be better, stronger, and beyond reach of the residual demon of destruction. More to the point is, how oblivious are the leaders of the men and women suffering, that they do not see their jobs cause more deaths than doing the job itself? More in the military die as a result of suicide than die doing their jobs. More die in the National Guard and Reserves to suicide than die doing their jobs. More Police Officers dies to suicide than dies doing their jobs. More Firefighters die to suicide than die doing their jobs. According to the CDC, suicides in America have continued to increase. While some want to suggest that since it has happened to everyone else, then, it is just the way things are. As pathetic as that thought is, what they do not acknowledge is fueling the loss of lives. These men and women decided that saving lives was worth dying for...but their own life was not worth fighting for anymore. Why? Who gave them that impression? Who allowed the thought to penetrate their brains that they were supposed to just suffer silently instead of turning to all the others they served with to help save their own lives? Would they do whatever they could to save one of their own? The pain is running silent, angry and deep. It is time to look in their eyes and tell them that it is time to #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife because this time, the life needing saving is yours!
Barry Manilow - Read 'em And Weep
Lyrics
I've been tryin for hour just to think of what exactly to say
I thought I leave you with a letter or a fiery speech
Like when an actor makes an exit at the end of a play
And I've been dying for hours trying to fill up all the holes with some sense
I like to know why you gave up and threw it away
I like to give you all the reasons and what everything meant
Well, I can tell you goodbye or maybe see you around
With just a touch of sarcastic thanks
We started out with a bang
And at the top of the world
Now the guns are exhausted
And the bullets are blanks
And everything's blank
If I could only find the words
Then I would write it all down
If I could only find the voice
I would speak
Oh its there in my eyes
Oh can't you see me tonight
Come on and look at me
And read 'em and weep
If I could only find the words
Then I would write it all down
If I could only find the voice
I would speak
Oh its there in my eyes
Oh can't you see me tonight
Come on and look at me
And read 'em and weep
I've been whispering softly
Trying to build a cry up to a scream
We let the past slip away
And put the future on hold
Now the present is nothing but a hollowed out dream
