Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Wish reporters had news alert that PTSD doesn't have to be like this!

I get alerts on #PTSD all the time. Honestly, one of the reasons I decided to stop focusing on veterans with PTSD and turn the attention onto everyone that survived the cause of it. Until reporters get that message, nothing will change and we will continue to lose more survivors after they should have been helped to heal.



This will give you an idea of what my email fills up with.
Iraq veteran says friends call him at 3am 'with pistol in hand' over war horrors - The Mirror The Mirror In the two decades since, many of the soldiers who served have struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For some this included calling ... 70 ptsd rating reddit - donationsva.it - donationsva.it Former POW Talks About Her Ongoing Battle With PTSD - fashiononashoestring.co.uk - fashiononashoestring.co.uk

Iraq, 20 Years Later: A Changed Washington and a Terrible Toll on America The New York Times ... 300,000 others returned home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders. ... but what didn't were the PTSD and the traumatic brain injury.

Rosanne Cash performs at Atwood Concert Hall - Alaska's News Source Alaska's News Source ... with Creative Forces for military veterans suffering from PTSD or traumatic brain injury, writing and performing songs as a form of healing.

Deported: The Iraq War veterans denied the right to live in the US - Sight Magazine Sight Magazine But Segovia Benitez fell on hard times when he returned to the United States, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.

Erskine veterans share Iraq war experience 20 years on - Planet Radio Planet Radio "I don't think I ever suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) but my wife might say differently because there were times when I was ...

Psychological trauma does not leave the American veterans in Iraq - Globe Echo Globe Echo Like many war veterans, the experience left him with post-traumatic stress disorder and mixed feelings about the war. In an attempt to process his...

Veteran who fatally stabbed his girlfriend in Anaheim convicted of manslaughter New Santa Ana Superior Court jurors that Moseley suffered from PTSD, which stemmed from a traumatic childhood and a tour in Iraq where Moseley, a Navy medic, was ...

There are more on that one email alert but you get the idea. Grammarly freaked out with those headlines and so did my brain.

40 years ago, it made sense that I was reading clinical books in the library about what veterans carried back from wars. After all, the researchers studied WWI, WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans because the government funded most of the research. Vietnam veterans pushed for more research and funding so they could understand what was going on with them, as much as they wanted to fight for all generations of veterans.

I grew up with uncles from WWII and my Dad was a Korean War veteran. Later, I married into another family of veterans from WWII and my Vietnam veteran husband. In all the years of research, I never read anything about anyone like me. I was a survivor too, but not from war. I was a multiple survivor of the events that caused it in me, but it didn't dawn on me that was the reason I understood veterans as much as I did.

When it finally dawned on me, I was furious. I had seen therapists and none of them saw it in me. I knew psychologists and other mental health professionals and they didn't see it in me. I did training with groups and no one saw it in me. Why? Because researchers are interested in studying trauma in survivors of all types of events, reporters are not.

This is one of the biggest reasons why I wrote the Ministers Of The Mystery series. The main character was a reporter. All the main characters are survivors of different events. Sure there are veterans in the spotlight but the attention they get is because they understand it so well, they wanted to pass on the hope of healing and help others along the way. That's how it should be.

The thing that got me about the first book, The Scribe Of Salem, was the reviews. Each one focused on a different genre and took away different messages from the same book.


This was my favorite one, but click the link to discover how 4 other reviewers took away different parts of it while giving it 4 5-star ratings and 1 4-star rating.
Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite

The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos is book one in the Ministers of the Mystery supernatural series. Chris considered himself an expert on the Witchcraft Trials in Salem, but something is about to prove his knowledge wrong. As a newspaper reporter, Chris has traveled the world and seen his fair share of horror, but nothing could compare to what happened next. On a visit to the Bishop Hotel Bar, Salem, a series of events changes everything he thought he knew and turns his life upside down. Chris has been offered a chance to get his life back on track, and he only has to do one thing - meet a Master Minister. When Chris begins to get his life back, he should be happy, right? But he isn’t; he’s terrified. Change has never done him any good before, so why should it make a difference now? God can’t save him – can he?

The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos is a great start to a new series. It’s an intriguing story, blending fantasy and supernatural horror as it delves deep into the Salem Witch Trials. Plenty of novels are based on the Witch Trials, but none are quite like this. It goes into great, descriptive detail about the horrors faced in those times and touches on other themes, such as domestic violence and PTSD. It’s also about having faith, not just in God, but in yourself and the power of friendship. It is a story of horror but also a story of pain, compassion, and healing, a gripping tale that will draw you into its tight clutches. It’s clear that Kathie Costos has done her research, and her characters are realistic people, easy to identify with, and infinitely likable. This wonderful story would make a great movie, and I highly recommend this author. I am looking forward to reading book two.

Go here to discover more 

Monday, March 20, 2023

Iraq War 20 years ago-and last night?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 20, 2023

20 years later, the bombs stopped falling, soldiers went back home,but for far too many, it never really ended. It never really does. You can see more photos here
March 20, 2003: U.S. Marines prepare themselves after receiving orders to cross the Iraqi border at Camp Shoup, in northern Kuwait.
Eric Feferberg/AFP via Getty Images

If you have PTSD, it is not too late to get help to heal. Yes, heal! Your life can be so much better once you make the connection between what happened, why it happened, and what you can do about it as a survivor of all of it!

MAKE THE CONNECTION!


Find some great vidoes like this one.

Sunday, March 19, 2023

It happened again, Fort Hood Female Soldier found dead

Female soldier found dead at Fort Hood, the same Army base in Texas where Vanessa Guillén was murdered

NBC News
By Marlene Lenthang
March 17, 2023
“For the Army to say no foul play presumes facts that have not yet been brought forth. For the Army to say no foul play would also indicate a tone deafness to the concerns of the father and the mother of Ana Fernanda Basaldua Ruiz who stated that she had been the target of alleged sexual harassment — repeated and consistent sexual harassment by other service members up to and including an immediate superior to who she reported,” David Cruz, the Communications Director of LULAC, said.
Ana Fernanda Basaldua Ruiz.Courtesy Basaldua Ruiz family
A female soldier died earlier this week at Fort Hood, the same Army base in Texas where Vanessa Guillén was murdered three years ago, officials said.

Combat engineer Pvt. Ana Basaldua Ruiz died Monday at the base, Fort Hood said in a news release.

Basaldua Ruiz, 20, who was from Long Beach, California, joined the Army in July 2021 and was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division since December that year.
read more here

Saturday, March 18, 2023

The Scribe Of Salem 5-star review

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite



Go here for The Scribe Of Salem
The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos is book one in the Ministers of the Mystery supernatural series. Chris considered himself an expert on the Witchcraft Trials in Salem, but something is about to prove his knowledge wrong. As a newspaper reporter, Chris has traveled the world and seen his fair share of horror, but nothing could compare to what happened next. On a visit to the Bishop Hotel Bar, Salem, a series of events changes everything he thought he knew and turns his life upside down. Chris has been offered a chance to get his life back on track, and he only has to do one thing - meet a Master Minister. When Chris begins to get his life back, he should be happy, right? But he isn’t; he’s terrified. Change has never done him any good before, so why should it make a difference now? God can’t save him – can he?

The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos is a great start to a new series. It’s an intriguing story, blending fantasy and supernatural horror as it delves deep into the Salem Witch Trials. Plenty of novels are based on the Witch Trials, but none are quite like this. It goes into great, descriptive detail about the horrors faced in those times and touches on other themes, such as domestic violence and PTSD. It’s also about having faith, not just in God, but in yourself and the power of friendship. It is a story of horror but also a story of pain, compassion, and healing, a gripping tale that will draw you into its tight clutches. It’s clear that Kathie Costos has done her research, and her characters are realistic people, easy to identify with, and infinitely likable. This wonderful story would make a great movie, and I highly recommend this author. I am looking forward to reading book two.

It is wonderful when an author receives such glowing reviews. What is even more thrilling is when I hear what readers of Wounded Times think. If you read it, please leave a comment here or review where you received your copy from. It will help other readers know it this work will be something they may want to read too!

You can read more reviews here 

Friday, March 17, 2023

Black veterans #PTSD VA claims denied at higher rates

Before you read this, understand that this is not "new" for any veteran. Claims take far too long to be approved and the burden is on the veteran. Always and unrightly so. They have to prove everything and meet time constraints or see their claim having to be refiled instead of continued. It took my husband over 6 years and that was back in the 90s. I've heard even longer cases when families suffered financially and emotionally. To be wounded or injured while serving this country, body or mind and often both, have a medical diagnosis linking it to service, then enduring the VA rejection of the claim is like a dagger to their soul. Now adding in the color of their skin is a barrier to receiving the medical care and compensation they were promised. This story made me grieve!

Black veterans were more often denied VA benefits for PTSD than white counterparts, newly surfaced study shows

NBC News
By Laura Strickler
March 17, 2023

“Ever since I came back from Vietnam, I knew that I had a problem, but I didn’t know what it was," said one Black veteran.

Richard Brookshire co-founded the Black Veterans Project in Baltimore.
A newly surfaced 2017 internal Veterans Affairs report shows Black veterans were more often denied benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder than their white counterparts.

The analysis crunched claims data from fiscal year 2011 through 2016 and showed that Black veterans seeking disability benefits for PTSD were denied 57% of the time, compared to 43% for white veterans. The report emerged as part of an open records lawsuit filed by an advocacy group for Black veterans.

Terrence Hayes, a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs, said the agency did not immediately have current data on a racial breakdown of PTSD disability benefits awards and said the agency “is gathering the data and will share it once fully compiled.”

Hayes wrote in an email that the agency could not comment on any ongoing litigation but that VA Secretary Denis McDonough is committed to addressing racial disparities as it relates to VA benefits.
In 2015 he applied to the VA for a service-connected disability claim for PTSD. Nine months later the VA turned him down. With the assistance of advocacy groups, he appealed the VA’s decision multiple times and received retroactive approval last month, seven years after his initial denial.

Forbes told Shaban that he believes racism played a role in his yearslong pursuit of PTSD benefits. “I dealt with it in the military and now outside of the military," he said. "As a veteran, I’m dealing with the same issues through this appeal process.”
read more here