Showing posts with label veterans peer support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label veterans peer support. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

If you want to help the Jar Heads

Here is what to do if you want to help after a tragedy

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 19, 2019

Right now, everyone wants to help the Jarheads after the terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of 7 of their group.

Right now they need all the support they can get, but it is more important they receive the right kind of help. 

While the shock is still fresh for them, many will experience a harder time after the funerals. Some may think it is their job to stay strong for the others, and that is OK, as long as they allow themselves time to grieve.

Let them honor what they are feeling so they can begin healing. 

If they are angry do not try to shut it down. Help them yell at the air, hit pillows, stomp their feet...let them release it.

If they want to cry, let them. Hold their hand, walk beside them or sit near them. Let them know you are there for whatever they need. Do not try to stop their tears. They will stop crying when they get out as much pain as they need to.

If they want to talk, listen to them. Do not try to fix them. They do not need to be "fixed" and you finding something to say is not what they need from you. They need your ear, your time and patience.

If you think about what you would want from them if you were in their place, that will help you know what to do...as much as you will know what to not do, or get as close as you can.

There is no time limit to grieving other than as long as it takes them to do it. No two people are the same.

If you are a survivor, know that the guilt you may feel is "normal" but whatever you think you may have been able to do, it was not like the movie you can play out in your own mind. Most of the time, what you think you should have done, or could have done, is usually impossible. 

Do not blame yourself any more than you blame God. He did not do this, but He did send people to help comfort you as much as they can. Lean on those who care about you so you can heal. After all, you'd probably do the same for them.

Within 30 days, if you address what you are going through, your pain should ease up. Flashbacks and nightmares should begin to lose power. 

While the pain may be there for a long time, as long as it is not as strong, keep working on it.

If your pain is stronger after 30 days, contact a mental health professional so that you can work on healing with their help.

Know that if you are hit by PTSD, it hit you because your emotional core is strong. As you feel good stuff stronger, you feel pain on a deeper level. As a survivor use that strength to help you heal.

Honor your feelings so you can begin healing! Trying to "get over it" or "stuff it" lets that pain spread out like an infection.

If I can help contact me at woundedtimes@aol.com or 407-754-5426 and it will be kept confidential.


Motorcycle club leader says resignation of RMV head over N.H. crash is ‘ridiculous’


Boston Globe
By Travis Andersen and John Hilliard Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
June 26, 2019

The head of a motorcycle club that lost seven people in a horrific New Hampshire crash last week said Wednesday that the abrupt resignation of the Massachusetts RMV boss is a “ridiculous” response to the tragedy, allegedly caused by a West Springfield man who kept his commercial driver’s license after an impaired driving arrest last month in Connecticut.

“It’s ridiculous for someone to be allowed to resign, or forced to resign . . . [and] run away from the problem,” said Manny Ribeiro, president of Jarheads MC, which lost seven riders who were killed June 21 when a truck driven by Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, allegedly plowed into them in Randolph, N.H.
read more here

‘It was extremely horrific’: Jarheads motorcycle club president describes New Hampshire crash scene


“It was like nothing I’d ever seen — never in my life.”
Boston.com
By Dialynn Dwyer
June 25, 2019

A Marine who survived the deadly New Hampshire crash that killed seven motorcyclists says what he witnessed that day was worse than anything he saw in combat.

Manny Ribeiro and his wife, Valerie, were riding in the front of the group of motorcyclists with Jarheads MC, a New England-based club for Marine veterans and their spouses, when an oncoming pickup truck hauling a trailer collided with other bikers in the group on Friday evening in Randolph, New Hampshire.

“It was like nothing I’d ever seen — never in my life,” he told reporters on Monday, according to CBS Boston.

The driver of the pickup, 23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, was arrested and charged Monday with seven counts of negligent homicide. Authorities have not revealed details about the potential cause of the crash, only that Zhukovskyy was traveling west on U.S. 2 while the bikers were headed east at the time.

Ribeiro, who is now serving as president of Jarheads MC, told the Associated Press that the 21 riders in the group of 15 motorcycles had just finished dinner and were on their way to a fundraiser at a nearby American Legion post.

The motorcyclist had been riding beside the club’s president, Albert Mazza Jr., 59, of Lee, New Hampshire, at the time of the crash.

“It was just an explosion … with parts and Al and everything flying through the air,” he said. “He turned hard left into us and took out pretty much everyone behind me. The truck and trailer stayed attached and that is why it was so devastating … because the trailer was attached and it was such a big trailer, it was like a whip. It just cleaned us out.”
read more here

To contact the JarHeads go here

Monday, May 13, 2019

Texas veterans remind others they do not have to fight PTSD alone

Veterans try to combat depression, suicides after return to civilian life


Houston Chronicle
Robert Downen
May 11, 2019


But little of that prepared them for their new battle - the war with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide that has claimed 14 men from the battalion since they returned in 2006.


Smith’s funeral was the third that year. O’Neel felt like he’d failed him. Danny O’Neel could not help but feel guilt as he stared over his former sniper’s casket.


As a 23-year-old squadron leader, he’d protected Adam Smith and the other soldiers of the Army’s 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment while deployed to one of Iraq’s most violent parts.

Sadr City in 2006 was “terrible,” “one of the most dangerous places on earth,” O’Neel said Saturday.

Some men lost limbs; nine lost their lives.
“We want to remind them all that they didn’t go through war alone,” Faun said. “They didn’t have gunfights alone. And they don’t need to battle things at home alone.”
read more here

Sunday, March 31, 2019

"When I retired...Vietnam came to my mind"

Vietnam veterans battle PTSD decades after war


News 13
Tori Gessner
March 29, 2019

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) - Dozens of Vietnam veterans gathered to celebrate National Vietnam Veterans Day on Friday, but for some vets, the battle didn't end following the war.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, eight out of every 100 veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD as a result of their experiences overseas.

"I started realizing all these things that happened to me over the years- I don't like crowds, noises bother me, and it all started coming back," George Bontay, who served as a civil engineer in the Vietnam War said.
Some experience the symptoms of PTSD immediately, but many vets say they didn't realize they had it until later on.

"When I retired in 2012 from the federal government, every day all of a sudden Vietnam came to my mind, and there wasn't a day that I didn't think about Vietnam," Air Force veteran, Jaime Lleras said.

Symptoms of PTSD vary, but veterans say after the war they had trouble sleeping, constantly felt on edge and avoided talking about their experiences altogether.

While there is no cure for PTSD, some Vietnam veterans have found a sense of relief with help from the Myrtle Beach Vet Center.
read more here

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Governor Andrew Cuomo taking down Bridges for veterans in crisis

OMBUDSMAN ALERT: State eliminates $4.7M in funding for veterans mental health program, including $185K for BRIDGES in Rockland County, putting services for returning veterans at risk


BY DR. LOUIS ALPERT
Ombudsman
March 28, 2019
Senator David Carlucci said at a press conference, “It is shameful that the Governor did not provide funding for the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program. This is about supporting the men and women who sacrificed their lives for our freedom and may return needing our help. We cannot let PTSD and TBI take another veteran’s life, which is why I support $4.7 million in funding for this program in our state’s budget.”
In Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2019 state budget, $4.7 million in funding designated for the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program has been cut statewide. The program has been effective improving the lives of many troubled returning US war veterans, many of whom were considered at risk of mental health crises, including suicide.

In Rockland County alone, $185,000 allocated to the non-profit group BRIDGES to administer the program has been eliminated. Carlos Martinez, executive director of the Rockland BRIDGES program, said this cut will put the program “entirely out of business” in our county.

State officials expressed disapproval of the defunding of BRIDGES’ veterans program.

Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee said, “In gratitude for their service to this nation, our veterans and their families deserve the resources and support they need, “ said Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee. “New York State has a moral responsibility to ensure the economic stability and mental wellness of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice. “As a member of the Mental Health Committee, I am committed to providing adequate funding in the budget for mental health services and programs.”

Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski said, “I have long supported the Joseph P. Dwyer program and am pushing for the restoration of funding in the final budget. The Dwyer funding has allowed BRiDGES to implement a successful peer to peer program that provides veterans with effective support services. I have pledged my full support for this important program and am fighting to see it continued.”
read more here


Tuesday, March 5, 2019

“There is no doubt that my time in the Marion County Veteran’s Treatment Court saved my life

In Ocala, special court for veterans learns more about PTSD


Ocala Star Banner
Joe Callahan
March 5, 2019
“There is no doubt that my time in the Marion County Veteran’s Treatment Court saved my life,” White said on Tuesday after he listened to a PTSD seminar organized by Marion County Veteran’s Treatment Court.

Sgt. Jason White, an Ocala native, had just retired from the U.S. Marine Corp in 2014 after serving 10 years and two tours in Iraq.

White, 33, who was in the Florida foster care system as a child, arrived home to his wife of five years and his 5-year-old daughter, both of whom were strangers due to his service, White shared on Tuesday.

White has been battling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ever since he returned home.

When he returned home, he had many tell-tale stressors. Besides childhood trauma from his time in foster care, he stressed about being a husband to a wife he had never lived with and a father to a child he barely knew.

Those struggles led him down a dark road, he noted. Erratic behavior and substance abuse led to a divorce, which he said devastated him.

All that changed a couple of years ago. An incident with his ex-wife led him to court on a misdemeanor charge and subsequently into the open arms of officials with the Marion County Veteran’s Treatment Court.

White says treatment court, founded nearly seven years ago, provided the headlights to help steer him off that long, winding dark road.

Today, he has joint custody of his daughter and now helps veterans as a Florida outreach coordinator for the PTSD Foundation of America.
read more here


Friday, February 15, 2019

Special Forces Veterans hitting suicide where it lives

Commandos to Counselors: A response to the special operations forces mental health crisis


Military Times
By: John Hollis
February 14, 2019
This is a fight and the creeds that we live by dictate that we never go into a fight unprepared. As with any mission, we need to train, organize, and prepare in order to succeed. Interventions are already being undertaken on an informal basis through social networks of SOF veterans.


There is a growing mental health crisis among members of the U.S. Special Operations Forces community that is not being adequately addressed.

On Feb. 2, 2019, CNN reported that suicides among those currently serving with U.S. Special Operations Command tripled last year. Although data specific to SOCOM veterans is not currently available, a recent study by the VA found that, between 2005 and 2015, veteran suicides increased 25.9 percent.

While the precise scope of the problem among SOF veterans remains unclear, anyone with access to forums like the closed social media groups that serve as an ad hoc support system for the community can see that the situation is getting worse. The most effective solution to this national crisis requires the direct involvement of SOF veterans trained to provide mental health services to their comrades.

After leaving active duty and transitioning back to civilian life, many SOF veterans struggle with serious mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress and depression. In the context of this difficult transition from the battlefield to the home front, a mindset that fosters success in the world of special operations can become a double-edged sword. Fighting through injuries and ignoring pain to complete the mission may be what is required in the short term, but insistence on our own invincibility over the long term can prove fatal.
read more here

Something like this is very much needed. When you look back at the way it was years ago, it is obvious that even after all the publicity PTSD had gained over the years, the end result is, more have lost their lives to suicide.

This is about attempted suicides, yet one more thing that does not get discussed enough. It is not from the VA but from the National Institute of Health.
During 1993-1998, 10,163 veterans were treated and discharged at a VA medical center after a suicide attempt (mean age = 44 years; 91% male).
That was reported in 2011. 

The DOD has been doing their own reporting on attempted suicides too. This report is from 2016.


Incidence of Attempted Suicide Over the course of CY 2016, 1,263 non-fatal suicide attempts were identified. The associated DoDSER reports provided data on suicide attempts for 1,218 unique individuals. A total 1,182 had a single suicide-attempt reported; 36 had two or more suicide attempts reported, dating back to 2010. The median number of days between the most recent suicide attempt and the penultimate attempt was 82 days. 


And this is part of the report from CNN about Special Forces Suicides.
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.
The good thing is that a lot more people are not willing to wait for our government to do something about all of this.

Much like we knew more than they know now, we learned the hard way in the 80's and I learned from people who were doing this in the 70's. 

So why is no one listening to any of us? Do they think PTSD has changed?

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Veteran just restored hope to my heart

The wounds you can feel, just as real as the ones you can see



I see so many using heart-wrenching stories for their own benefit, that I tend to get to the point where I just open the emails I have to post and ignore all the others.
 Every once in a while, I'll see an email that reassures me, most of the people actually trying to make a difference for our veterans, do it for the right reasons. 

Today, I just opened one of those and I have to tell you that it came at the right time.
You know, the same type of message I've been preaching for over 3 decades! Are you hearing it now?


The reports of recent suicides started to put my heart through a meat grinder. Well, this veteran just pulled it out before it turned into dinner for the "awareness divas" running around screaming for attention for themselves, while the rest of us are losing hope because we're losing a lot more than those folks will ever mention.

Roland Van Deusen MSW
Veteran, retired counselor
Clayton NY 

And look how long he's been delivering his message!

To Veterans with Invisible Wounds
Ronald Van Deusen
November 19, 2012

Sunday, February 10, 2019

UK Vets tanks PTSD on civvy street

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

Saturday, December 29, 2018

West L.A. PTSD therapy groups gutted by VA...seriously?

Veterans protest the gutting of West L.A. PTSD therapy groups


LA Times
Gale Holland
December 29, 2018
“I’m 69 years old and I lost a whole lot of life. When they announced we were disbanding I thought, why in the world is the government who vowed to take care of us cutting us off at the knees?” Arnold Hudson

Dov Simens said he was “playing Rambo” in a homeless camp on Wilshire Boulevard 34 years ago when he stumbled on a therapy group for combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Veterans Steven Goldstein, from left, Peter Erdos and Dov Simens sit outside building 256 at the West Los Angeles Healthcare Center. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Through weekly sessions on the West Los Angeles veterans campus, Simens, 75, a member of the military’s secretive Phoenix interrogation and assassination program in Vietnam, was able to marry, have children and buy a house in Sherman Oaks, he said.

Buoyed by his success, he took a break. But anger and depression drove him back to the “group of my peers.”

“I have PTSD and I know that there is no cure,” Simens said. “There is no pill or opioid that will make what I did disappear.”

Now he and other veterans say the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has soured on long-term therapy and started dismantling the West L.A. PTSD program, which has helped thousands of former service members heal the invisible wounds of war.

Before August, about 20 groups, each with five to 30 members, had been meeting on the medical campus for a total of 40 hours a week of therapy, said Leslie Martin, the former PTSD therapy program director. The combat veterans group shut down this fall after refusing the VA’s order to move to cramped quarters with no privacy, she added.
read more here

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Vietnam veteran's suicide notes saving lives now

Veteran's suicide note leads to new outreach program in Wisconsin


TMJ 4 News
Rikki Mitchell, Photojournalist Justin Tiedemann
Nov 14, 2018
"His best friend Joe Tate...was asked to carry this message to other veterans so they don't have to suffer as he did," said Steven Heiges, who now leads the Captain John D. Mason Peer Outreach Program.

A new outreach program at the Medical College of Wisconsin was created and named after a veteran who lost his own battle with depression and PTSD.

The Captain John D. Mason Peer Outreach Program will help veterans connect with health care and mental health resources at the Veterans Affairs hospital.

Mason served in Vietnam and struggled silently with depression and PTSD. He never sought any treatment and in 2013, he committed suicide.

He left five suicide letters, one to his wife, one each for his two children, one for his best friend and one addressed to all of them.

His best friend Joe Tate decided to take that fifth letter and record himself reading it out loud. In the letter, Mason says he hopes his death will help other veterans struggling.

"Get me to the VA so they can stop someone else," Mason wrote. "Too late for me."

When Tate received these letters, he decided to approach the Medical College of Wisconsin with Mason's wishes.
read more here

Saturday, October 20, 2018

CNN Hero PTSD Veteran Chris Stout Helping All Generations

CNN HERO CHRIS STOUT

WTVA
CNN
Posted: Oct. 19, 2018

Chris Stout's nonprofit provides tiny houses and support to homeless veterans and assists any local vet with jobs, transportation and other issues.
"It provides everything these guys need to live with dignity, safely, and then fix what got them there in the first place." 

Leo Morris served in the Air Force. Karen Carter patrolled with the Coast Guard. Henry Owens enlisted in the Navy.

These veterans all served their country. They've also shared another experience: homelessness.

"You feel a sense of desperation, loneliness," said Owens, who was homeless for eight years. "I had no hope."

Today, they have another common bond: They are neighbors. Each one lives in a tiny home in the Veterans' Village in Kansas City, Missouri -- run by the Veterans Community Project.

The nonprofit is the vision of a group of young veterans led by former US Army Corporal Chris Stout.

After being wounded in Afghanistan in 2005 and returning home, Stout struggled with his injury and PTSD. He enjoyed being around veterans and got a job connecting vets to services they needed. But he was frustrated by the gaps and inefficiencies he saw. At times, Stout used his own money to put homeless veterans up in hotel rooms.

In 2015, he and a few buddies quit their jobs and started their organization.

"We are the place that says 'yes' first and figures everything else out later," Stout said. "We serve anybody who's ever raised their hand to defend our Constitution."

Stout found that many homeless veterans didn't like traditional shelters because they were unsafe or lacked privacy. When he learned about tiny homes, he quickly realized that a cluster of them made a lot of sense.
read more here

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Break the sound of silence before it is too late

Reach Out in the Darkness and Keep a Friend
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 1, 2018
Preventing suicide begins when you reach out to those who have lost hope. Not by reducing them down to a number because you think it is easy to remember. They do not need to be made more aware of others who lost their battle.


When people tell me they are spreading "awareness" with a number, that is simply not correct, it is repulsive! This lazy attitude has replaced their commitment to the cause they claim be devoted to. It is not that they do not care. They did not care enough to become aware of facts first.
No one fights alone and the battle for their lives requires us to be aware of truth, not what is sold as a true effort to change lives before they are lost.

Men and women, dedicated to saving lives of others, should never be more fearful of asking for help. They already know how to die, but they do not know how to heal.

If we really honor and remember their sacrifice for the sake of others, then we need to make sure to do the work to help them heal and save their lives for a change. PTSD is something that can be defeated but it requires knowledge first and action afterwards. Not the other way around.



"Reach Out In The Darkness" and you may keep a friend!



Tried to boost this on Facebook but they disapproved of it.

Gee you see the post and it is not political. When will Facebook get this censorship right?

Sunday, June 17, 2018

VA PTSD therapist yanked, veterans feel far from thanked

VA therapist yanked from clinic in Conway
Left adrift, say vets haunted by war
Arkansas Online
By Debra Hale-Shelton
June 17, 2018


"Had all things been normal, we would have anticipated that someone was leaving a position and we would have transitioned and have had someone in line to take that spot," she said in the interview later. "Because of the volatility and our concerns for safety, the decision had to be made to do this abruptly."

Larry Hay's Army tour in Vietnam was a half century ago, long before he married Margaret, his wife of 34 years.

The war has long ended; the trauma lingers.

"When he goes to bed at night, he goes back to hell. He goes back to Vietnam every night, and so do I," Margaret said. "We neither one get a good night sleep. ... I try to catch his nightmares."

Larry Hay enlisted in the Army in 1969. Three times, his helicopter was shot down in the jungles of Vietnam.

"At one point, he was on the flight lines where they were working on the helicopters, and one of his friends didn't get low enough," and Hay saw his friend decapitated, Margaret said.

Guard duty created more nightmares: "The Vietnamese would booby-trap the kids and tell them Americans have candy," Margaret said. "They [Americans] didn't have any choice. They had to shoot them. That really weighs on him. He absolutely loves children."

Margaret accompanies Larry to weekly support-group meetings and speaks for him when he isn't up to talking about the war.

"He has terrible nightmares ... to the point that he jerks so hard that he literally flops out of bed," Margaret said. "He's injured himself several times doing that."

Along with other Vietnam veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, Hay began getting help after the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System's outpatient clinic in Conway started two therapy support groups in 2013. The Vietnam veterans nicknamed theirs the Jungle Group; the Middle East veterans called theirs the Desert Group.
read more here

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Canada:Veteran with PTSD shares healing

On PTSD Patrol, we're always talking about the things that work. Well, here is one out of Canada from a veteran with PTSD.

Local resident inspires others battling PTSD with social media posts 
Vancouver Island Free Daily 
LIFE LINDSEY HORSTING
Jun. 14, 2018

It didn’t matter if only five people saw it, he felt a sense of power, being able to take control of a part of his life, that he felt had been suppressed for so long.“I wasn’t looking for validation, I was looking for a voice I never had,” Vaillancourt explained.
(Photo by Madison Simpson)
Patrick Vaillancourt knew he needed to talk about living with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression once he was diagnosed.  

Patrick Vaillancourt, a social media influencer, was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in 2015 while he was working in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Originally from Toronto, he entered the Forces at 17 years old, and said he was broken down and built back up in a way that was unfamiliar to him.

He was exhibiting drastic moodswings, sleep deprivation, was always angry, would cancel plans and isolated himself, and was lacking motivation.

It got to the point where his friend in the Forces told him it was time to get help, to this day he is very thankful for the push. “He is my guardian angel, he saved my life,” Vaillancourt said.

He received counselling through the Toronto Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC), an organization he volunteered with when he was younger, and the help was effective.

He was able to work himself back into the military system, but after counselling there was no follow-up from the MFRC and he was left to his own devices to deal with the depression.
read more here

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Veteran Peer Support and Healing Waters

Peer programs key to helping vets move forward
Metro Daily News
By Jeff Malachowski
Daily News Staff May 27, 2018
Young, who spent 42 years in the National Guard, served for 24 months in Iraq and said there was heavy fighting during his second deployment, which took its toll. Young learned of Project Healing Waters while on a group hike with Manson and felt the companionship of his fellow veterans would help be a distraction from his PTSD.
SUDBURY — The tranquility of a peaceful spring evening at Josephine Pond is a far cry from the battlefields of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Instead of hearing the pop of gunfire, more than a dozen veterans last week listened to the birds chirp and traded stories as they cast their lines into the small pond behind the Wayside Inn in hopes of landing a trout - a welcome respite for some of America’s heroes.

“It’s very rewarding and uplifting,” said George Kincannon, a retired Army first sergeant.

A national program with small chapters across the country, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing brings together disabled veterans from all branches of the military twice a month for an evening of fly fishing and conversation that doubles as a form of rehabilitation. The organization is one of many aiming to ease the transition back to civilian life and help veterans deal with grief and loss they experienced while serving in combat.

“It’s an opportunity to immerse yourself in an activity that needs your focus and not think about anything else,” said Bill Manson, program leader for Project Healing Waters’ Fitchburg chapter. “It’s something that pays dividends.”

Many of the close to 20 veterans that participate in the Fitchburg chapter suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Joe Young, a retired sergeant major with the Massachusetts National Guard, is one of those veterans. He said spending an evening fishing and socializing with his fellow veterans keeps his mind away from his memories of the battlefield during two deployments to Iraq between 2003 and 2005.
read more here

Sunday, March 18, 2018

PTSD Patrol: Win the battle side by side

"What is behind you, is not as strong as who is beside you."
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 18, 2018

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day.

"The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."

Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain and was reunited with his family. (from Catholic.org)
Many do not understand that the day they say everyone becomes Irish, is a celebration of a victory. Patrick defeated doubt. He escaped his captors and went on to greatness.

You can escape PTSD holding you as a prisoner by defeating doubt too. Stop telling yourself that this life you are living is all you get. Stop telling yourself that getting numb is coping with PTSD. 

You defeated the thing that sent PTSD into you. Why let it win now?

I love this memorial because it shows two soldier side-by-side, walking forward, ready to face the enemy.

Monday, March 5, 2018

Joseph Dwyer lost battle for his own life, but more saved because of him

This is the famous picture of Joseph Dwyer,
And this is what came after he lost his battle to save his own life.


Senate trying to get more funding for peer-to-peer veterans aid network
Legislative Gazette
Jeffrey Trotter
March 5, 2018

Veterans across New York are voicing their support for the Joseph P. Dwyer Project and rallying to adopt the peer-to-peer veteran support program as part of the governor’s executive budget.

The Joseph P. Dwyer Project is a peer-to-peer initiative that provides aid to veterans by linking them up with other vets. Veterans across the state continue to advocate for the project due to its success at providing needed aid to those who’ve served in the military.

According to the project’s website, “the Joseph P. Dwyer Project is a Senate funded initiative which provides peer-to-peer, vet-to-vet support for veterans struggling with PTSD and other issues due to combat experience and other military service-related violence.”

Joseph Dwyer was a combat medic who served in Iraq and gained fame for a photo that documenting him cradling a wounded Iraqi boy. Dwyer suffered from PTSD and drug addiction after returning home, and his behavior became increasingly erratic and dangerous. He died from a drug overdose in 2008.

The Dwyer Project is not a part of the governor’s budget. For the past two years the Senate has reallocated funds to provide Dwyer with $3.1 million annually, which amounts to a minimum of $185,000 for each county chapter. Adding the Dwyer project to the state budget would save this reallocation step and provide a permanent source of funding for the project. 
Sen. Joe Addabbo, D-Ozone Park, wants to double that figure by adding $6 million to the budget to continue to grow the Dwyer Program into the five boroughs of New York City. 
“[The project] has a proven track record,” Addabbo said. “When it comes to veterans there is no place for politics.”read more here

Friday, December 8, 2017

"It's a high time to fight" and take your life back!

Don't fight this one alone
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 8, 2017

It was the job that came with a warning. It could be hazardous to your life. Do you even remember why you wanted to do it?

It is a safe bet that whatever the reason was, you were willing to die for the sake of those you were serving with. They were probably just as willing to die for you and you trusted them.

They trusted you. So, why don't they trust you now? Why don't they trust you to be there to listen to them because they need help to not become one of the numbers who did not make it to the next day?

The thing is, there is nothing behind them that is not weaker because you are standing beside them. 
Saving survivors of anything is not easy but saving a veteran is harder. It is because you forget that asking for help during combat was vital to getting as many of your brothers and sisters home to their families. Someone got the stupid idea that asking for help was a sign of weakness. Oh, no, you shouldn't need anyone to help you. After all, isn't that what you said when you were in combat? Ya, right. 

So would you save a friend? Spend time listening to them and waiting when the words don't come out? Would you offer your hand on their shoulder? Would you think anything less of them because they needed something from you to stay alive?

THEN WHY DO YOU THINK LESS OF YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU NEED THEM?

For Heaven's sake! Life meant so much to you when you were in combat, you were willing to die for them! SO HOW ABOUT YOU BE WILLING TO ASK THEM FOR HELP NOW? 

This time the life you save can be your own and then you can save someone else tomorrow.

Don't let tonight be lonely when you don't have to fight the demons by yourself. 

"It's a high time to fight when the walls are closin' in. Call it what you like it's time you got to win."


Billy Squier - Lonely Is The Night - 11/20/1981 - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (Official)
Lonely Is The Night
Lonely is the night when you find yourself alone
Your demons come to light and your mind is not your own
Lonely is the night when there's no one left to call
You feel the time is right, say the writing's on the wall
It's a high time to fight when the walls are closin' in
Call it what you like it's time you got to win
Lonely, lonely, lonely your spirit's sinkin' down
You find you're not the only stranger in this town
Red lights, green lights, stop and go jive
Headlines, deadlines jammin' your mind
You been stealin' shots from the side
Let your feeling's go for a ride
There's danger out tonight, the man is on the prowl
Get the dynamite, the boys are set to howl
Lonely is the night when you hear the voices call
Are you ready for a fight, do you wanna take it all?
Slowdown, showdown waitin' on line
Show time, no time for changin' your mind
Streets are ringin', march to the sound
Let your secrets follow you down
Somebody's watchin' you baby, so much you can do
Nobody's stoppin' you baby, from makin' it too
One glimpse'll show you now baby, what the music can do
One kiss'll show you now baby, it can happen to you
No more sleepin', wastin' our time
Midnight creepin's, first on our minds
No more lazin' 'round the TV
You'll go crazy, come out with me
Feelin' lonely
Lonely is the night
Feelin' lonely
Lonely is the night
Lonely, lonely, lonely
Songwriters: William H Squier Lonely is the Night lyrics © Spirit Music Group, Global Talent Publishing