This is one huge part of the problem and it will continue to produce more and more devastation with our veterans as well as their families. I won't jump on this bandwagon just because this is what is getting attention in the blog world.
PTSD is not like having the flu when you take a few pills, rest and just get over it. That statement indicates how little they really know about PTSD. Maybe they think they can just brainwash the veterans into thinking they can get over it, but that leaves them feeling it's their fault if they don't.
If they cannot figure out their programs have produced a higher suicide rate over the last few years as they come up with programs to cope with the ravage of PTSD, then nothing will convince them to open their eyes, minds and hearts to address all of this properly. Frankly, I'm tired of having to talk veterans off the ledge and then be told by officials that all is well.
You've read about the suicides over the last couple of years on this blog and on my other blog at www.namguardinanangel.blogspot.com. You've seen the videos, especially Death Because They Served where there are over a hundred names of those who did in fact take their own lives. This gets worse every year because no one with the power to do what needs to be done will listen.
Veterans can beat PTSD but like most things, they are changed by their experiences. With knowledge of what PTSD is, where it comes from and hearing what they need to heal, as well as getting families up to speed on this, they can heal. They come out changed but often they come out changed for the better. They already have what they need within them to do this but they need a GPS to find it.
Families need knowledge so they don't make things worse for the veteran. Simple things like pushing them into doing things they don't want to do when they are having a very bad day, it is a huge mistake and adds guilt to the wounded veteran. Waking them up from a nightmare the wrong way can lead to bloody noses and black eyes, the same way addressing them when they are having a flashback can end up with the family member being attacked. When they understand what PTSD is doing to the veteran, they are more apt to want to help than to walk away from them.
Most PTSD veterans don't even understand why certain times of the year are worse for them than others. They don't understand that their subconscious remembers the anniversary of a traumatic event for them. They don't understand this because no one ever told them.
They don't understand that PTSD hit them because they were compassionate people and they took away the pain of others on top of their own pain. They struggle with their spiritual connection to God questioning how the same loving God they prayed to allowed it to happen. They end up feeling their compassion was a curse instead of a blessing to others. Yet when they know what they need to know, their compassion is fed and they once again reach out with that same compassion to help others.
They don't understand that courage is required for the compassionate to act in times of need. Did anyone tell them how much courage it takes to be willing to lay down their lives for the sake of someone else? As for the "sheep dogs" comment, he has part of this right. They are filled with compassion and often they know they may have to take a life to save a life. Much like people entereing into law enforcement. They would rather not have to kill to save but they know sometimes they must. That does not change the fact they are still human and it does not mean they like it or have a "propensity for violence."
It's very difficult to keep reading what the military and the VA is doing when it comes to PTSD when they keep getting it wrong. It's not that they don't care, but they don't know more than they are told.
Psychiatrists and psychologist do not know what clergy know and they don't know what physical therapists know. None of them know what the families know. Healing PTSD requires addressing the body, mind and spirit. Until all these are addressed, the military will keep getting this wrong and we will see more suicides.
This is not just about what is easy. This is not about telling them they can "get over it" the way they were told by others all along. This is about showing them how they can "beat it" while living with it.
This takes everyone involved. From the top of the military chain of command all the way down to the kids. Families have to be included in the veterans healing as well as the military itself. They have yet to address the fact that PTSD comes at different levels. There are depths of cuts depending on how many times the exposure to traumatic events is. Some feel it all deeper than others. Some feel it soon after the event and others feel it many years after. The one common factor no one seems to dispute is the sooner it is addressed the less the wound is.
Much like an infection, PTSD claims more and more territory left untended to. When it is treated and they begin to heal, the scar left behind is the result of the time between wound and healing.
They need to know that even with the parts of PTSD they will have to live with, they can find peace with all of it. Families need to know what it is so they can forgive the way the veteran acted while PTSD was taking more and more parts of them and locking them away behind a wall of pain.
Why is it we never seem to read anything like this when they are talking about PTSD? Because of examples like this when they equate it to the flu!
On warrior resiliency at Pentagon-sponsored conference
By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 4, 2009
NORFOLK
Dave Grossman puts humans into three categories: Ninety-eight percent are "sheep," content to graze and likely to stampede when they're threatened. One percent are "wolves," psychopaths with a propensity for violence who lack empathy. The other 1 percent: "sheepdogs," who have both empathy and a propensity for violence.
The sheepdogs are also called warriors, he said. They're not always liked or appreciated by the sheep, but they come to the herd's rescue when wolves threaten.
Grossman seemed to captivate the crowd Tuesday at a Pentagon-sponsored conference on warrior resiliency. Most in attendance wore camouflage military uniforms, but the two-day meeting includes civilian therapists and health care providers, as well as personnel from Veterans Affairs.
The program continues today with a video address from Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and concludes with a panel of "real warriors" talking about combat experiences.
Grossman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former professor of psychology at West Point, acknowledges the reality of combat stress and psychological trauma. World War II's "greatest generation" included 500,000 soldiers who were psychiatric casualties, he noted.
"Post-traumatic stress disorder is not like pregnancy " is one saying he likes to use. It's not like frostbite, either: You can have PTSD, overcome it and suffer no permanent damage. It's more like the flu, he said: "It can kick your tail," but once you've had it, you probably won't catch it again.
read more here
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/warrior-resiliency-pentagonsponsored-conference
But it is not just the military suffering. It is the National Guards as well. This is what some in the DOD want to treat like the "flu" and it should really break your heart.
