What is your purpose now?

Types of vehicles have different purposes

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 28, 2018

We choose vehicles based on what we like and what we need to do. If you need to clear snow, then you would want to have a snow plow. While a plow will clear snow, it would not be good to put one on a race track. That is, unless you plan on clearing other cars by shoving them out of the way.

On the other hand, a race car is meant for speed, and could clear snow very fast with a plow attached to it. The trouble is, it would not be able to do it very long.

When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. I always thought that I would be writing horror novels, instead of surviving horrors. Now I write about horrors in a much different way.

I could look at my life and think that it went off track, because while I wrote three books, I have not finished one of the several horror books I started. I am not sure what to even find the manuscripts now. I did not choose this work. My life did.

Most of us think we are supposed to do something and it sucks when we cannot do them, for one reason or another. You may think that because your job caused you to be invaded by PTSD, you cannot save anyone anymore.

That is because you are not looking at how many you can still save by letting them know there is hope for their lives too. 

Think about the group of veterans in TEAM RUBICON. They are no longer in the military, but used their training and desire to help by responding to disasters. They put their lives on the line all the time because they put others first, just like they did in the military.

Find what you do best and then find a different way to do it. Being of service to others comes in many different ways. You can still be true to the core of who you are, even though how you do it changed. #TakeBackYourLife
go here for more

Help save the demon from PTSD Patrol

The demon of PTSD wants to live and needs your help to make sure it wins more lives. You can help by spreading suicide awareness so that these souls never find hope that they can heal!

Isn't it time for you to fight and #TakeBackYourLife

PTSD Patrol Beat the Demon

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 21, 2018

Spreading "suicides awareness" has met a dead end. It makes no sense to keep going down the road you do not belong on! 


Whenever someone reminds you there are veterans taking their own lives, start thinking about how to #TakeBackYourLife.

You already survived what caused PTSD and the demon to come into your life. Do it again! Only this time, give him the finger and tell him he cannot defeat you now!

go here for video

Yesterday was the Orlando Nam Knights Biketoberfest Party. Just before you get to the clubhouse, there is a "Dead End" sign. It got me thinking about how all the "suicide awareness" is in realty, a dead end.

It offers no hope. It offers reminders that more veterans lost their battle with the demons of PTSD to other veterans trying to fight them. 

Where is the hope in that message?

Some of my friends helped me with the video. The one in the Reaper costume, Tony, put it on even though it was 94 degrees here in Orlando. Skip did a great job with being rescued by Susan. That is the message of PTSD Patrol. Friends helping friends because they needed it. 

You may feel as if you have to fight your own demons all by yourself. Yet when you think about what was going on when you were involved in the events that caused PTSD, you were not alone then. Why fight this time by yourself when you do not have to? Isn't it time for you to fight and #TakeBackYourLife?

Older veterans need to lead the way, not get out of it

The more I think about the fact that older veterans have waited longer for all the benefits they fought so hard for, the more I want to scream "Stop getting out of the way and start leading it again!"

Vietnam veterans led the way for gaining treatment and compensating for PTSD. Yes, that is right, old guys! The ones who did it without social media or even computers.

Now we have First Responders being treated for what their jobs did to them. Oh, you guys get that, since most of you went into those careers too. Who else will they listen too other than those who walked the walk since before they were in baby walkers? 

You are the majority of veterans in this country. Sadly, veterans over the age of 50, are also the majority of the suicides.

What are you waiting for? You have a lot of time on your hands now, so how about you use that time to actually make your golden years glitter?

Go to PTSD Patrol and see if you can become the inspiration to save some lives, beginning with your own!

Turn on your hazard lights

Flash for a healing chance
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 7, 2018

When your vehicle is having trouble, there is a simple button you push to let others know you need help. It turns on your hazard lights.

Everyone behind you sees those lights. They will either pass you by with caution, or they may try to help you.

This is from WheelZine
When to Use Hazard Lights
Though most people use hazard lights for mundane and unimportant things like speaking on the cell-phone while in traffic (which is illegal, mind you) or lighting a cigarette or adjusting the music system, the actual purpose behind the installation of these lights is to communicate a possible danger to the oncoming or passing traffic. Given below are some of the occasions when you can and should use hazard lights.

• When you are experiencing a sudden car problem in the middle of traffic, switch on the lights and slowly pull over. Keep the lights flashing till the problem is solved.
• In case of dense fog, you can switch on the hazard lights to warn traffic on both the sides of the road.
• When traffic on a usually traffic-free road is slow or stalled for some reason, you can turn on the hazard lights to indicate to the traffic behind you that traffic ahead of you is stalled.
• Another situation in which you can turn on hazard lights is when you are moving up a steep slope, which has caused your vehicle to slow down considerably. The blinkers will tell the vehicles behind you to proceed with caution.

In the 70's we had Mood Rings that were supposed to let other people know how we were feeling.
read more here

East Orlando Harley Davidson for Ride to Fight Suicide

UPDATE
A ride for life
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
September 30, 2018

Today my husband and I are celebrating our 34th anniversary. No matter how hard some years were, we had love and fed each other hope. He is the reason I have done this work for the last 36 years. I have seen the darkness but have also seen what brighter days bring.

Yesterday I went out to East Orlando Harley Davidson for Ride to Fight Suicide

All of our lives have been changed in someway by the lose of hope, but none of us are ready to give up this fight for life.

While our lives may be different, the purpose of our lives has become one of restoring hope.

Romans 8:28 King James Version (KJV)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Suicide is a painful thing for the families left behind. They never find the answers they are looking for. It is always with them, when the person they loved gave up on themselves. Beyond that, they gave up on the people who loved them as well.

The never ending questions of "why didn't they come to me" or "talk to me" or "let me know how much they were hurting" or "why didn't they trust me to listen to them?"

I know those feelings all too well, because it happened in my family. My husband's nephew was also a Vietnam veteran and he committed suicide 18 years ago. I have all those questions still in my head that will never be answered.
read more here

You are not too old to replace the cranky attitude

PTSD Patrol: Cranky Shafted?
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
September 23, 2018

This is for the majority of veterans in the US. Older, but unfortunately, not as wise as you should be when it comes to PTSD.

Veterans over the age of 50, are also the majority of veterans known to be committing suicide. Yep, that long after surviving combat, the battle to stay alive is lost all too often.

Most of it is because you thought you escaped all you went through while you were busy working, raising kids and doing what everyone does. Filling up time instead of relaxing.

Faced with retirement and other life changes, no longer too busy, time catches up with you. Suddenly it is as if you were hit by a sledgehammer when nightmares, flashbacks and mood swings take over. Not knowing what is going on, it is easy to get cranky.

AutoZone Crankshaft

"Your vehicle is a smoothly operating machine, unless of course your crankshaft and camshaft have gone bad. A faulty crankshaft inhibits the pistons from rotating properly while a damaged camshaft prevents correct opening and closing of the intake and exhaust valves- hindering your ability to drive altogether. The crankshaft and camshaft work together in-sync, so the valves don't contact the pistons, which are all controlled by the timing belt. Overtime, these parts become faulty from wear and tear, and inevitably need to be replaced within the lifetime of your vehicle."

If you had been hit by PTSD in younger years, then more than likely, you have already been to the VA, diagnosed and treated for PTSD. That is great because PTSD stops getting worse when you #TakeBackYourLife and fight to heal. 

If you managed to "stuff it" then you may have been under the delusion you escaped what others did not. It is a huge shocker to find out you did not, especially when you are ready for your "golden years" when you are supposed to be enjoying life.

A senior veteran can be fully restored too!

This morning on PTSD Patrol, we're talking about how some people want to think veterans are all broken, damaged beyond repair. You know, the ones who think we're all supposed to feel like giving up.

After over 3 decades, it would be easy for me to explain the difference between "broken" and what a survivor looks like. 

It is like looking at a vintage car that has been fully restored.

From 2015 Open House at Lake Nona VA Hospital

A senior veteran can be fully restored too!


PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone

Your ride may be getting old, but it is far from ready for the junk yard. Most people value antiques and if you are a senior veteran, that is a great way to look at what comes with age.

You have a lot of miles on your spare tires. Your shock absorbers may be a little worn out. You may need some body work. The truth is, you survived all of the events that put miles on your ride. A lot of them were bad but more of them were good times.
read more here

PTSD Patrol: You can get there from here

PTSD Patrol, directions to hope
Kathie Costos
September 9, 2018

This morning on PTSD Patrol, the topic was listening to your guide, in this case, a GPS trying to get you on the best road. 

That is, after all, what we are doing here every week.

PTSD is not new. It is as old as biblical days when the anguished cried out to God for either mercy or forgiveness. Anything had to be better than what they were going through.

It is the same way with you. When you are struggling to find hope, you need to know how to get there.

It is almost like saying you are going to drive out west. If you live in Florida, that can get tricky on your own. Out west is Tampa and the the Gulf of Mexico. You need to find out how to get out of Florida first.

If you are smart enough to figure out you need directions for a road trip, then why don't you use that same intelligence to know when to ask for directions to heal?

This is from PTSD Patrol

Whenever you want to go to a place you have never been before, you have to find out how to get there.

In my case, my daughter bought me a GPS after I got lost in Tiffin Ohio...for two hours circling corn fields. (Don't ask, long story) She said I get lost getting out of a paper bag!

Everyone can get lost but the folks who planned the road and loaded directions must have gotten lost too. 

When everything is going to hell, it is hard to believe in a place you have never been to. You are used to being stuck, most of the time feeling alone, and always being just too depressed to do much at all. 

But even though you may feel as if you are stuck, there is something inside of you trying to get you to notice you are the only one keeping you from getting to where it is so much better. You can live a better life if you look for directions how to find it.

This video is for anyone who is lost but refuses to pay attention to the easiest way to get to hope. No one is so lost they cannot be found and get your life turned around from grave to Hope Road.
go here for more hope

Trip to Peru with the PTSD Patrol T-Shirt

 PTSD Patrol looking out from peak in Peru!

My wonderful friend Erica took a trip to Peru with the PTSD Patrol T-Shirt in her bag. I had no idea she had it with her. Today she sent me these pictures and I almost fell off my chair! Just stunning to see it with that view and that message.

How can anyone look at God's creation and not see His love in those mountains?

You may think that your troubles are just too big when you are at the bottom. How can you get over them until you start to take one step ahead?

Standing there will not get you anywhere but when you have the courage to move forward, the view from the top is stunning!

The BS of 22 Pushup Challenge

Will reporters ever get a clue on 22?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 3, 2018

Yet again, the ear worm of "22" has penetrated another community. This time in Indiana. It was reported on WTHI 10 News.

22 PUSH UP CHALLENGE LOOKS TO BRING AWARENESS TO AN IMPORTANT ISSUE

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - 22 people...over 22 days are pushing out a message. A message of suicide awareness among veterans. It's the third year of the 22 Push Up Challenge.The Hamilton Center brings together groups of 22 people to do 22 push-ups.The challenge is a message for veterans and active military members to be aware of their resources...and it's more than just pushups."Sometimes it's about being silly but sometimes it's about bringing a message. and if one person hears that message and we stop one person from taking that step into hopelessness or suicide then we're doing what we're supposed to do," William Little, from the Hamilton Center said.

The "third year" of the challenge? Yep!

How many times does the truth have to be told before this BS stops? It is happening all over the country with good intentions have replaced good information.

I ran up against it with one of my buddy's when we were doing videos for PTSD Patrol.

My friend Dave Matthews, otherwise known as Sgt. Dave, sat down at the Lake Baldwin Vietnam Memorial and did a couple of videos. In this one, we talked about the facts and how "22" number is not helping anyone.Then Dave became unable to control himself, dropped down and did, you guessed it, 22 push-ups. I called him an idiot!

Then he challenged me to come up with something else for the "22 a day" groups to do that would be positive and helpful. This is the start of the list and go to Combat PTSD Wounded Times for more you can do.

Dave is one of my good buddies and is totally dedicated to other veterans. I've known him for a very long time. He is far from stupid. Trust me on that one. So how is it that even after we talked about how no one knows the number of veterans who lost their battle, did he still stay trapped in the "easy to remember" number of 22?

He said that is the number everyone knows. What he could not explain is how that number, how raising awareness on a false number is helping anyone. It isn't.

The only number families know is the one who is no longer here.

The veterans I have worked with over the last three decades have been pissed off that they reached the point where they almost took their lives because no one told them the things I said before.

You know, like getting them to understand what PTSD is and why they have it, but beyond that, what they can do to live a better quality of life. 

If you go to PTSD Patrol, I have put up some of my older videos on PTSD going back to 2006. If you really want to do something to prevent suicides, then stop talking about something that is not true, just because "everyone knows" it. Much like when folks thought the world was flat...turns out it was not. Now I know how the informed people felt back then when they were called liars too!

The second thing they all wanted to do was to help other veterans heal too! This site has far too many reports on veterans taking their own lives who did not find what they needed to heal because of all the people putting the ear worm of suicide into their brains.

PTSD Patrol: Your buddies are your shock absorbers?

Shock Absorbers Surround You!
PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone
Kathie Costos
August 26, 2018

When we got the idea to turn PTSD Patrol into something related to vehicles, it was odd, to say the least. Once explained that people understand the vehicle they drive a lot more than the vehicle they live in, it only made sense to do it this way.

There are a lot of automotive parts that can be used to explain the vehicle you live in. Your body is your ride and we are all different but the stuff that makes it work can be linked to the stuff that goes into the vehicle you drive.

If you took a job to save others, you took on a lot more than most people have to deal with on a daily basis. That is why there are over 7 million citizens with PTSD, and you helped most of them survive.

If lives of strangers meant that much to you, then don't you think they matter to those you serve with? Ok, then why don't you get that your buddies would want to save you too?

Read about shock absorbers From Firestone

HOW DO STRUTS AND SHOCKS WORK?

The suspension on your car is made up of many components, including a set of springs that absorb bumps and road impact, a set of struts that support your springs, and a set of shocks (short for shock absorbers) that limit the bounce your car experiences by absorbing residual movement in suspension springs.

Without properly maintained struts and shocks an unexpected pothole, or even a gravel road, can actually cause the wheels of a vehicle to bounce off of the ground, which can easily lead to loss of control and collision.
read more here

PTSD Patrol Two Wheel Power Drive Update

The power to move starts with your desire
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
August 5, 2018

The only thing stopping you from going where you want to go in life, is your imagination is not fueling your power to even start.

If you think you are stuck where you are, you may want to have a different life, but lack the way to change it. Just like all journeys, you need someone to clear the way so you can see what is possible on the road ahead.

The question is not how do you get there, but how do you even want to begin? If you have hope there is something better ahead for you, then you'll seek it. The more you look, the more you'll find people along the way to cheer you on.

PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone

Update from PTSD Patrol Two Wheel Power Drive

It is Sunday Morning! The beginning of a new week and hopefully, a new beginning for you too!

By now, you watched the video and saw how all of these athletes received help to achieve their goals. That is how everyone moves on in life. 

You had a desire to serve. They had a desire to do that too. 

You had to be trained to do it. So did they.

They needed help to get out of the wheelchairs. Help to learn how to swim with their physical limits but they did not limit themselves to what they were expected to do. You should not settle for being limited to what people expect out of you with your disability.

They needed help on every part of this trip in their lives, and so do you.

Sure, I know most wheelchairs have more than two wheels but when you think about it, that is really all you need. One wheel moves you but the other one guides you to where you want to go.

So where do you want to go? The only limits on your life are those you settle for. Want to get up and move that vehicle you live in? Then #TakeBackYourLife and find the drive to do it.

On a personal note: Gunny, there is something on the end of this just for you! Thank you for being such a huge part of encouraging me to never give up! 

Click the link above for the rest of this!

Someone sold you a lemon.

PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone: What drives you?
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
July 22, 2018

Someone sold you a lemon. 

They told you that you were weak. They told you that you need to just get over it and move on. They told you that you grieved long enough. They told you all kinds of things to get you to stop suffering, or so they thought. What they managed to do was to get you to just stop talking.

What good did that do? What good does it do to constantly hear about someone taking their own life after surviving, and wonder why they did not talk to you? Wonder no more about that one. You just read the answer.

You did not choose that moment when trauma hit you. 

You did not choose how it would take over everything.

So why are you making the choice to suffer as its victim instead of fighting to #TakeBackYourLife as what you are? 

You survived it! It did not beat you that time and does not have to win this time.

Jonnie is on the PTSD Patrol Road crew with a mission of making sure that you get on the right road and choose to fight with the power within you.

PTSD Patrol: Strange sounds in your engine?

Engine noise in your skull
PTSD Patrol Empowerment Zone
Kathie Costos
July 15, 2018

While you wait for it to stop, more damage is done to your engine. That is the same thing with PTSD and the engine that is in your skull. Your brain is the engine that drives you!

On Bell Performance there is an article on sounds your engine should not be making.

Diagnosing Common Engine Noises - James on Engines #3
Posted by: James Dunst

The Common Problem: Engine Noises When an unfamiliar noise starts coming from somewhere under the hood, people get scared. They may not know enough about complex engine systems to know if it’s something to worry about or not. 

Let’s discuss some of the source areas mechanics find to be the most common places for engine noises to originate from.

Some of the causes of this condition are improper fuel octane, engine overheating, improper ignition timing, the EGR valve not functioning properly and problems with the computer or knock sensor. All these conditions can cause the air fuel mixture in the cylinders to ignite before it’s supposed to. This creates multiple flame fronts in the cylinder fighting each other and causing the pinging and rattling noise. Check your owner’s manual to make sure you’re using the right grade of fuel. Or you can switch to a higher grade for a period and see if the noise goes away. If it doesn’t, you’ll want to look at these other possible causes.

When you are not sure about the cause of the noise you hear in your engine, you start to hope it just stops. You want your ride to go back to normal. While you wait for it to stop, more damage is done to your engine.

That is the same thing with PTSD and the engine that is in your skull. Your brain is the engine that drives you!
read more here

Transmission out of surrendering to PTSD

Are you transitioning or surrendering?
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
July 8, 2018

Life is about transitioning from one place to another. In this case, we're talking about the transition from surrendering to something that happened into being a survivor and using your transmission to move you forward.

WHAT DOES A TRANSMISSION DO? 
From Meineke
How Does an Automatic Transmission Work?

An automatic transmission is essentially an automatic gear shifter...Have you ever heard the sound of your engine getting higher, then lower as your car accelerates? A car in a low gear will start struggle as its pushed to higher speeds. A car with an automatic transmission has a torque converter that senses these changes as you accelerate and shifts you to a higher gear. The same process works in reverse as you slow down.

TRANSITION

movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Music.
a passing from one key to another; modulation.
a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing.
a sudden, unprepared modulation.
a passage from one scene to another by sound effects, music, etc., as in a television program, theatrical production, or the like.

There are things you may have told yourself, that are simply not true!

The first lie is when you told yourself there was something wrong with you. The truth is, there is something strong within you!

If you chose a job where you knew it could kill you, military, law enforcement, firefighting or any of the other jobs protecting others, that choice came from a very strong emotional core.

Civilians can get hit by PTSD from just one event in their lives. When you consider how many events you survived, it should make more sense that you would get hit harder, than escape it because of your training.

You may be resilient, but that does not mean you are impervious to what your jobs did to you.

If you do not have PTSD, then make sure that you keep doing the steps for Crisis Intervention for yourself. That starts with being able to open up about what you witnessed from an emotional level, not just a tactical one.

Every time I survived something that could have killed me, I was able to talk about all of it knowing I mattered to someone. It helped me get out the ugliness of what I was faced with so that good stuff could get back in.
read more here

PTSD Patrol filling up with hopefulness

PTSD Patrol hope on a tank full
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos

July 1, 2018

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 New International Version (NIV)

Yesterday out at the Orlando Nam Knights, Tony "NK Jeans" Johnson wanted to know why I was so against the "awareness" raisers. The answer is a simply one. It does not give hope to those searching for it.

 When people say "it is just a number" they show they did not take enough interest to know, the known number represents people and were not just a number that is easy to remember.

We need to change the conversation into what will stop them from being stuck with an empty tank of hopelessness and fill them up with hopefulness!

I explained the difference between what is actually known and what is just assumed. The point of this effort is to change from awareness that people are committing suicide into what will help them want to live! That begins with knowledge of what PTSD is, what being a survivor is, and the power behind the simple fact that they can heal if they work at it!
read more here

PTSD Got a new name?

What drives the stigma is not the "D"
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 17, 2018

This morning on PTSD Patrol there is a special video on how some want to change the term of PTSD to PTS, as if that one little letter is keeping you from asking for help. 

Yep, they think that you are more afraid of the letter than anything else you faced off with that caused PTSD in the first place.

Will Google Learn that PTSD Got A New Name? by Laura Rittenhouse on Forbes June of last year. This is what she wrote.

On the subway recently, I complained about the MTA’s lousy service to the man sitting next to me. Every day, I said, there are more delays, route changes, and crowded cars. He agreed. Then I continued, “Of course there are worse things in life than subway disruptions.” He agreed.

He told me his brother-in-law, who was a veteran, had struggled with “PTSD” for two years, since returning from Afghanistan. Last week, he said, this man killed himself. “He took a gun to his head…”

“I’m so sorry,” I exclaimed. We sat and shared silence. I asked him, “Do you know that PTSD is now PTS for ‘post traumatic stress’? The “D” for “Disorder” was dropped.” He did not know. In fact, lots of folks, and Google, still don’t know this. I googled PTS and all I got was PTSD. Here is why it’s important to drop the D for "Disorder"

For some strange reason, as she wrote, she "broke the "silence" correcting him instead of comforting him. 

Aside from this guy pouring his heart out to this stranger on the subway and then getting smacked down with a correction, instead of showing empathy, she got it wrong. Imagine him sharing that kind of heartache with a stranger and then hearing a lesson on a letter!

Sure there are some folks pushing to drop the "D" but none of them really understand what the term means. If they think that one letter is feeding the stigma, perhaps they should consider what they are adding to it instead.

And then in the article she quoted George Carlin. It seems as if it has become her mission to make sure people stop using the D! She gave the same lesson to a waiter. After all, so many think it is adding to the stigma. Ya, I know, smacked me in the head too!

Rittenhouse ended with this thought.

Removing the stigma of “D” shows veterans that we support their physical, psychological and spiritual healing. It builds empathy and can transform lives.

Is she an expert on this? Nope! This is her bio.

I founded Rittenhouse Rankings Inc. after leaving Lehman Brothers in the '90s. I am the author of "Investing Between the Lines: How to Make Smarter Decisions by Decoding CEO Communications" and have been a featured author at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. My annual CEO Candor Surveys report on companies that excel in Candor and those that do not.

See, the thing is, they have been changing the name for decades, and that has not done much good, as we're seen by the results. We have also been seeing people running around the country talking about things they learned online. Most of the time their vast information comes from millions of keystrokes on Facebook with other experts sharing what they also assumed was true.

Rittenhouse is not alone. If you Google PTS you get "About 142,000,000 results (0.58 seconds)" with everything from Physical Therapy Specialist, Precision Test Solutions and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary established way back in 1794!

Google PTSD and you get PTSD and "About 37,700,000 results (0.43 seconds)"

I am offended by her being offended with the "D" after Vietnam veterans came back and fought for all the research done on what war did to those we sent, thus reaching out to every human who ever survived traumatic events. 

So let us take a look at what the "D" actually means.

Definition of disorder transitive verb
1 : to disturb the order of
2 : to disturb the regular or normal functions of

Normal is not having something put your life in danger. Combat puts your life in danger. Others are willing to risk their own lives to save someone else. You know, law enforcement, firefighters and emergency responders. Some of it even do it for free while in between their regular jobs and taking care of their own families.

My life had been in danger many times since childhood. I can tell you first hand there is nothing normal about any of this.

Now, we should also look at what "disturb" means. I am not taking about the great band Disturbed, but the word itself.

Definition of disturb transitive verb 1 a : to interfere with : interrupt disturbing the flow of traffic b : to alter the position or arrangement of the items on her desk had been disturbed c : to upset the natural and especially the ecological balance or relations of wetlands disturbed by development 2 a : to destroy the tranquility or composure of

But as with everything else, things can get put back into order, even if it is not the same order it was at the beginning.

The results of all the BS about the letter "D" has prevented the one thing veterans, and all others, need to hear. The "D" also means to move forward! You know, as in the "D" on your shifter letting you get from one place where you do not want to be to get to where you do want to get to.

No one can control how other people drive their vehicles but we do choose how we drive our own. In this case, that vehicle is your body.

We need to stop going in reverse and letting people put up road blocks deconstructing terms they do not understand when there are lives on the line, heartaches happening to more and more survivors because they never heard the news that they are not stuck where they are.

When they need real facts that will change the conversation, they have been forced into silence by people doing a hell of a lot of talking about things they do not understand.

Getting back to the band Disturbed, this is one of my favorite videos. The Sound Of Silence!

Fools, said I, you do not know 

Silence like a cancer grows 

Hear my words that I might teach you 

Take my arms that I might reach youBut my words, like silent raindrops fell 

And echoed in the wells of silence

Take a sledgehammer and break the silence! Understand that PTSD hit you and that you are not a victim, but a survivor. You beat it before and can do it again.

Today on PTSD Patrol we're talking about this and how some want to trivialize the term, as if it did not matter at all. They want to blame something they do not understand. If they would stop and think about what would really get rid of the stigma, then they'd be doing something worthwhile.

Guess it is just so much easier to say what they think instead of thinking about what they need to learn.

Go to PTSD Patrol and see what a difference can be made when we change the conversation from a knowledge based on assumptions into something empowering! 

UPDATE
Happy Father's Day Gunny!

Well the midnight headlights blind you on a rainy night
Steep grade up ahead, slow me down, makin' no time,
But I got to keep rollin'
Those windshield wipers slappin' out a tempo,
Keepin' perfect rhythm with the song on the radio,
But I got to keep rollin'
Ooh, I'm drivin' my life away, lookin' for a better way for me
Ooh, I'm drivin' my life away, lookin' for a sunny day