Take a different view of you

Take a different view of you
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
August 6, 2017

Sometimes it may feel like you are driving alone, far behind everyone else.

You decided where you want to go. You found out the best way to get there. Picked music to listen to. Pulled over to get gas to get wherever you are heading for.

Without warning it happens and then, what was behind you, catches up.

It can be a shock to see something that isn't there anymore. It can make you feel as if you've lost your mind.

The choice is, do you keep going alone or do you find someone to share the driving with?

This is a post I did back in 2010 and it will give you a better idea of how to get there. Keep that in mind when you read some numbers.

Finding Forgiveness After War

Over the years many veterans come to mind when I read something like this. One Marine stands out in my thoughts right now. I was at the Orlando VA with my husband waiting outside with the smokers for his appointment to be over. I sat with a couple of young Marines as they struggled to fill out paper work. One of the Marines broke down while we were talking. I took his hands in mine and asked him if he wanted to talk. Tears flowed more.

He kept repeating "I'm a Marine" as he apologized for crying and then told me he wasn't supposed to cry, that I didn't understand, he was a Marine and Marines don't cry. I asked him if he was ever told he was no longer human by the Marines. We talked some more and he told me that he just didn't train his brain as well as he was supposed to. He was supposed to be able to take it all. Then it came out he had BattleMind training and thought it was his fault he didn't train his brain enough to prevent it. I help him in my arms as I prayed for him and we talked some more.

"Many of the troops kill themselves because they feel that those kinds of experiences have made them unforgivable," said Dr. William Nash, a top PTSD researcher. "It's a lot harder for most people to forgive themselves than to forgive others."

He couldn't forgive himself for what he had to do anymore than he could forgive himself for not preventing PTSD. I told him that it took more courage for him to be carrying that kind of pain while he was in Iraq, still doing his duty, still watching over his brothers, still being there when he was needed and putting others first while his soul was so wounded. It was not until he was not needed to save their lives and back home that he allowed himself to feel the pain.

God sees it all. He knows what is in the heart of the warrior and what the intent was. He knows that the parts of the human mind go to war with each other as they struggle between what the think is right and what they believe in against what ends up causing in the process. They believe in fighting for their country and for their brothers, but they end up having to do horrible things just as they have to witness horrible things being done. They wonder where God was when man is capable of such acts and innocent people die, just as they wonder why they lived but their friends did not or why the enemy put innocent civilians into the violence instead of protecting them from it.

They may be reminded that Christ Himself forgave the people who nailed Him to the cross and there is nothing they cannot be forgiven for, but the hardest part is to get them to forgive themselves. They can no longer see what was in their hearts (soul) before the horrors of war invaded it. It was not their intent to kill as many people as possible as much as it was to be there for their friends and to do what the nation asked of them. Yet after they only remember the evil they participated in or witnessed. They take on that evil in their souls and it haunts them.

Even when they believe God has forgiven them, they still have to struggle to find forgiveness for themselves. This is nearly impossible for those who still do not know what PTSD is or what caused it to enter into them.

We will see so much more suicides and attempted suicides until they get the message that it is not their fault, they are not guilty beyond forgiveness and PTSD is not the judgement of God against them.
Psalm 4

1 Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame

4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.

8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 6
3 My soul is in anguish.
How long, O LORD, how long?

6 I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.

8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.

9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.

Psalm 7
8 let the LORD judge the peoples.
Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.

10 My shield is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.

This is what Combat PTSD is all about. They can try to wish it away, but the truth is, it has entered into the souls of those we send to fight. It comes into the souls of the courageously compassionate, willing to die to save someone else because they care so much. PTSD only comes from a traumatic event and is not born in the mind as much as it invades it. Once they understand it, they can begin to heal.

Reading the Bible, it is not about one religion over another, but is a historical account of what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We tend to push out of our memories exactly what war was like in ancient times and how many of the heroes of the Bible were in fact warriors and commanders as well as kings. They had great faith but even with that spiritual connection, they struggled with finding forgiveness for what they had to do. The Bible is full of these accounts and many of the Psalms show just how deeply that wound cut into their soul.

Last year, 52 Marines took their lives. Thirty-six of those troops had seen combat, and 11 of the self-inflicted deaths took place in Iraq and Afghanistan, Driver said.

MILITARY:
Suicide rate confounding Marine Corps
'We have to get to the solution,' a top general says

Story Discussion By MARK WALKER


A steady rise in suicides is confounding Marine Corps commanders, despite years of efforts to assure troops their careers won't suffer for seeking mental health counseling, a top general said Tuesday.

"We have to get to the solution," said Lt. Gen. Richard Zilmer, deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs, during a three-day conference on combat stress at the Town & County Resort and Convention Center in San Diego.

"We are at the point where we need to take action. It won't get any better with the status quo."

The Marine Corps' suicide rate has reached 24 per 100,000, a rate that surpasses all the other services. The rate was 13 per 100,000 in 2006. The latest available figures put the civilian suicide rate at 20 per 100,000.

So far this year, 14 Marines have killed themselves, including seven with combat experience. An additional 72 attempted suicides were recorded in the first four months of the year, according to Bryan Driver, a spokesman in the Personal and Family Readiness Division.
click link above for more

They stop seeing themselves as noble individuals willing to risk their lives for others and start to see themselves as evil abandoned by God and thus the haunting of their souls is judgment from God. They begin to believe they are guilty instead of being heroic. They forget the sounds of appreciation coming from crowds and begin to hear the sounds of battle as battle becomes them.

As soon as the military understands this, they will then begin to be able to help them heal and what they will have after are stronger, braver, soulfully fortified military men and women still willing to die for the sake of others.

Now, you may have asked the question "how are you" a lot of times everyday to other other people. When was the last time you asked yourself how you are? Time to change the answer from hurting to healing?

Suicide Awareness Equals Dead End

The sign reads "Suicide Awareness Dead End" because that is exactly what all this talk about numbers leads to.

"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil."
Socrates

Veterans already know they are killing themselves. What they do not know is that they can heal and make the next day better than their worst day.

No, your worst day is not this day you are in misery. It is the day that PTSD hit you. You forget you survived that worst day already. 

Our job, if we are truly seeking to help veterans stay alive, is to make you aware of, not just that fact, but help guide you toward taking back control of your life.

He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy. Socrates 

The enemy is the ignorance of people more interested in spouting bumper sticker slogans than learning about the cause of suicides. It is our job to fight against this unacceptable outcome and provide veterans with the right directions to heal!

This is from 2005 and as you can see, the book was already written and self published. So, no I did not come to this road in this decade, or a decade ago. As a matter of fact, it was over 3 decades ago.

We actually knew more back then than too many know now. As with all things, the roadwork was already planned and done long before the newer veterans joined all other generations. 

The choice is yours. Do you go downhill just because the road you know about takes you toward the end of your life? Or, do you go the other way back to what others had already paid the price to navigate? 

Stray Kitten Gave Soldier Something Worth Living For

Pet Tales: A kitten saves a soldier's life

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Linda Wilson Fuoco
June 10, 2017

After suffering a brain injury in Iraq, Army Sgt. Josh Marino “was in a really, really bad place. I did not want to deal with it anymore.”

Exhausted from his struggle with the “invisible wounds” of post-traumatic stress disorder, he planned to end his life one night in 2008 at Fort Riley in north central Kansas.

“I took out one of my knives ... I wrote a letter on my computer” and went outside to smoke one last cigarette.

Then he heard a soft “meow,” and a small black-and-white kitten emerged from the bushes.

“I broke down crying.... He saved my life ... I stopped thinking about all my problems and started thinking about his problems and what I could do to help him.”

Mr. Marino recounts his story in a 6½-minute-film, “Josh and Scout,” featured on mutualrescue.org, the website of a non-profit organization whose mission is “revealing the impact people and animals have on one another.”

Mr. Marino, 37, is a native of Turtle Creek who now lives in Brookline with his wife, Becky, and their daughter, Penelope, who was born Feb. 24. They have three cats and three ferrets.

After eight years of service, he was medically discharged from the Army in July 2009. He moved back to Pittsburgh, got married in September 2010, and earned a master’s degree in clinical rehabilitation and mental health counseling. He now works in the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a program operated by the University of Pittsburgh and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“It was an honor to serve,” Mr. Marino said. “I am still serving. I am just serving in a different uniform.

“I love my job. I work with people with disabilities every day.”

His counseling includes telling veterans about the kitten who saved him. He directs them to Humane Animal Rescue shelters in Homewood and the North Side to look for animals who need a home.

read more here
Mutual Rescue

Josh and Scout, a Mutual Rescue™ Film

It can be almost impossible to have a positive outlook when all you hear is something negative. Check Facebook on veteran suicides and you'll see what I mean. Aside from it mostly being wrong, there is nothing helpful in "raising awareness" it is happening especially when the numbers are worse that they are quoting.

That is the bad news. Now the good news. Most veterans are living with PTSD and defeating it! They have been living for 30, 40, 50 years and longer after they survived combat. Hell, most of them didn't get help until 2007 when 148,000 sought help within an 18 month window. 

Oh, all of them knew there was something wrong, but they didn't know what to do about it. Back then there was a dire need to make them aware of what PTSD was and that help was available. That was already accomplished but too many groups found that making folks aware of the worst was more important that what was actually healing veterans!

John 16
20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 
21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 
22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Now back to Josh's story. He had nothing to live for and was planning on ending his life. The kitten came to him looking for help and he gave it. It turned out, the kitten he named Scout was just what he needed to find something worth living for...putting the kitten's needs ahead of his own heartache.

Sometimes all you need to know that you can still make a difference. After combat, after risking your life for the sake of someone else, that is a part of who you are. 

Can you still make a difference? Yes! Do whatever it takes to heal and then pass it on to others needing to be helped.

Scout saved Josh because he could help. Josh went on and got married and then went to work helping others just like him.

Your story is not on the last chapter and does not have a predicable ending. That ending is one you write yourself and you have the power to change this moment on.

It is time to take control away from PTSD and drive your life toward what is possible!

All you need to heal is in your soul

Simple Man

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Mama told me when I was young

Come sit beside me, my only son

And listen closely to what I say

And if you do this

It will help you some sunny day

Take your time...don't live too fast

Troubles will come and they will pass

Go find a woman and you'll find love

And don't forget son

There is someone up above

And be a simple kind of man

Be something you love and understand

Be a simple kind of man

Won't you do this for me son

If you can?

Forget your lust for the rich man's gold

All that you need is in your soul

And you can do this if you try

All that I want for you my son

Is to be satisfied

And be a simple kind of man

Be something you love and understand

Be a simple kind of man

Won't you do this for me son

If you can?

Boy, don't you worry...you'll find yourself

Follow you heart and nothing else

And you can do this if you try

All I want for you my son

Is to be satisfied

And be a simple kind of man

Be something you love and understand

Be a simple kind of man

Won't you do this for me son

If you can?

All you need is in your soul is a message that I've been sharing for almost 35 years. You may think that if you are brave, you don't need faith, or help, or anything from anyone. How is your life now? Are you happy? Have you made peace with what happened during your service? Do you feel love, or do you only feel anger and regrets? Are you still drinking or doing drugs so you don't have to feel anything?

Well, I got news for you, not healing is just plain stupid! Why on earth would you want to go from a person so filled with courage and compassion that you were willing to die for someone else, into this half alive person? What are you afraid of? Admitting you need help?

Suck it up and remember what it was like when your job almost killed you. Did you ask for help back then when you were outnumbered or did you try to pull a Rambo? Chances are you were smart enough to ask for whatever the hell you could get to stay alive.

As for the rest of the ego thing, pity isn't your type of party. Is it? If you're miserable and suffering then folks will feel sorry for you, but if you do whatever it takes to heal and fight this battle, you become an inspiration!!!!!

Jeff Streucker didn’t invent the phrase “God in the foxhole,” but it certainly applies to him.The retired U.S. Army major is a veteran of military operations in Panama, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan and has earned a chest full of medals for distinguished service. His heroism was depicted in the popular war movie “Black Hawk Down.” But Streucker is more focused on a heavenly reward. As the lead pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia, and a highly sought-after speaker, he is just as interested in winning souls for Jesus Christ as he is protecting his country from its enemies.

Don't worry, I'm not going to get all preachy on you but one thing is for sure. God doesn't screw up. Humans do. Whatever got in your head making you think that it doesn't get any better than this moment is, everything you need is in your soul!

In Jesuit Father James Conroy, the White House Jesuit Retreat in south St. Louis County has perhaps the perfect leader for its annual veterans retreat — Friday, June 30, to Sunday, July 2, just before Independence Day.Being a Jesuit priest at a Jesuit retreat center certainly qualifies in the spiritual aspect, but Father Conroy also fulfills the temporal nature of the retreat, connecting him quickly with men and women who have served their country.He's a veteran himself, of the Vietnam War. 

Now, you ready to get to work and start getting your life back? Whatever is wrong with you is because of what is strong within you. Hint: The same thing that gave you all you needed to do what you did and make it this far is the same thing that can heal you!

PTSD: Can you find your way to truly go back home alone?

"You've always had the power to go back"
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 13, 2017

It is no secret I love old movies! As a child, they got my imagination into high gear. When I grew up, knew more about what makes us who we are, I noticed how many lessons on life were actually in the script.

One of my favorites is The Robe. I tell veterans they need to watch this movie and see what Combat PTSD is. It has all of it but few connect the life of Tribune Galio to all the symptoms of PTSD. 

"In the Roman province of Judea during the 1st century, Roman tribune Marcellus Gallio is ordered to crucify Jesus of Nazareth but is tormented by his guilty conscience afterwards."

Tribune Galio was haunted by the sound of the nail being driven into Jesus, had nightmares and during flashbacks he kept asking, "Were you there?" He had mood swings, anger issues, you name it, all classic symptoms of PTSD. He believed he was possessed by the Robe that Jesus wore on his way to be crucified. 

In the end of the movie, there was an awakening to the power he had within him all along to heal. He believed in the power of love again to the point where he would rather die than return to the way he was before.

Dorothy couldn't have gone through what she did alone. She had friends walking by her side. It was a walk she had to do but she didn't have to do it alone. Why do you think you have to?

There is no place like home!

Dorothy: Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
Glinda: You don't need to be helped any longer. You've always had the power to go back to Kansas.
Dorothy: I have?
Scarecrow: Then why didn't you tell her before?
Glinda: She wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.
Scarecrow: What have you learned, Dorothy?
Dorothy: Well, I—I think that it, that it wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em — and it's that — if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?
Glinda: That's all it is!
Scarecrow: But that's so easy! I should've thought of it for you...
Tin Man: I should have felt it in my heart...
Glinda: No, she had to find it out for herself. Now those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds!
Dorothy: Oh! Toto too?
Glinda: Toto too.
Dorothy: Now?
Glinda: Whenever you wish.
Glinda: Then close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, 'There's no place like home'.

She had the power inside of her all along. Can you find your way to truly go back home alone? Were you alone while you were away?

That's the biggest secret of all. The power to do what you did in the military was within you. The courage was not something you were taught. You already had that. The compassion to care enough to be willing to endure whatever you had to go through to do what you were sent to do, was in your soul from the moment you took your first breath. No one trained you to care.

Resilience was already in you. The "training" you got was nothing more the BS. You already had all of it but what they didn't tell you is that you also had all that you needed to heal afterwards.

I have no magic wand to suddenly make it all better for you. Believe me, my life would be a lot easier if I could do it for you. But that is something you have to do for yourself for a change, in order to really change.

All I do is help you to see things in a different way and discover what is already inside of you. You can take the power way from what is haunting you, like the Tribune did and you can use the power you had all along to go back home.

PTSD caused the change in you but no on told you that you had the power to change again and that, that is the key to fight your way back to a happier life.

Help veterans take back control of their lives

PTSD Patrol 6TBC
PTSD Patrol
May 7, 2017

It has been proven that peer support is the best medicine but when you have untrained folks offering the support, everyone remains lost and, so are far, too many lives are gone.

After almost 35 years of watching all of this, I've seen what has failed but I've also seen how lives are changed when they take back control of their lives. TBC? Really? Yes, one more thing that people forget to tell veterans searching for some hope. Tomorrow can be oh so much better than their worst day.

They cannot change anything in their rear view mirror but on the road ahead of them it can be like a Sunday drive. 

They are not in a hurry to get to work or to a doctor's appointment but they may get lost and have to ask for directions.

They may encounter folks driving too slowly in the passing lane and have to switch lanes to get around them.

They may have to seek alternative routes to get to the destination they are headed for.

Pretty much a good day to start this. We have to help them take back control of their lives if we want them to stop taking those lives.

As I wrote in the beginning of this site, there is no doom and gloom allowed here. Veterans have had enough of that and we've seen the appalling results. 

If you're interested in doing what is easy, like talking about their problems, because it is easy for you to do, please just go away. This road crew doesn't have time for you.

The Workers Are Few35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

My friends and I came up with a 6 week training program so that you can actually be the one to help them find the road home to healing and give them back control of their lives.

My life has been a very long list of times that should have, not just could have, caused PTSD to hit me, but it didn't. There are actually ways to prevent trauma from gaining access to your soul. If it already has, there are ways to help healing.

Some get confused on being one who risked their lives to save others and being someone who had to kill to do it. That answer is clear in the following passage.

The Faith of the Centurion5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

The Roman Centurion was a leader of the soldiers controlling the Hebrews, and crucifying them. When the Centurion went to Jesus for the sake of his servant, soldiers in his command were with him and witnessed him "lowering himself" to a Jew, the people they were trained to hate. Yet they also saw how much courage he had to do it in front of them and how much love he had within him.

That part always gets overlooked. Jesus knew how He would die and by whose hands would hammer in the nails. He did not send the Centurion away, judge him unworthy nor did he ridicule him. He knew what was in his heart and honored his request. 

I am a Chaplain, so naturally I use Christian based spiritual therapy but when I address veterans, and they do not believe, I tell them to just think of what I say as a story. The power is in the message of hope and healing, not in making any converts to Christianity. Besides, this Christian Chaplain isn't sinless. I drink alcohol, smoke and swear. I also hang out with bikers. As for my personal relationship with God and Christ, I argue with them all the time before I do what THEY want me to do.

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you.7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages.

In my case, the wage I receive is watching them change from someone knocking on death's door to wanting to help other veterans get to where they are in life filled with hope and living a happier life.

This cannot be about going to the media or pulling a stunt. We have to be like the "72 others" going out "two by two" standing by their side. No one knows who those 72 were but everyone knows what they achieved when they went out and spread the hope and message of love.

I cannot talk about the veterans or families I work with and that is a promise I have kept all these years. It is not my story to tell and the pain they carry is theirs. How could I ease that pain if I talked about them? How could they trust me if I called a reporter every time I saved a life or restored a family? After I help them, I go back to being a wife, friend, writer and oh, almost forget, go back to my regular job for my paycheck. You have to be willing to do the same.

The training is in six parts once a week. One hour of a video and information followed by another hour of refreshments and conversation for five weeks and then on the final session, the road map is laid out.

If you are a local veteran's group and want this training, contact me and we'll set up the dates. If you a veteran's group too far for me to get to, also contact me and we can work it out.

woundedtimes@aol.com

Call 407-754-7526 after 1:00 pm Monday thru Friday, from 9:00 to 9:00 weekends.

It is time to change the conversation if we really want to change the outcome!

PTSD Patrol "the direction of your life changes to forward"

Welcome to PTSD Patrol! It is May 1st, and Military Appreciation Month. I couldn't think of a better day to start this site.

Have you ever heard the term "MAYDAY-MAYDAY-MAYDAY" and right away acknowledged someone needed help? Do you think the one calling it out is too weak to take care of themselves? Or do you think they need help? Ok then WFT is your problem being on the other end of the help line?

WARNING: I am a Greek/Scottish/Chaplain originally from the Boston area, hang out with veterans and bikers, plus I drink, smoke and swear. If you're looking for spiritual healing, you'll find it but keep all that in mind. I don't mess around with words.  I've been doing this work for over 3 decades, so don't be shy about using the words around me either. As we go along, this site may have to be member only, but we'll see how it goes. I work full time but will try to do something everyday on here.

Up to this point in your life, you've heard a lot of the tragic outcomes of suicides connected to service. Bet they didn't tell you exactly how tragic it is when we're talking about folks putting so much value on other lives they were willing to die for their sake.

Yep, that came with the jobs all of you had. No matter what price you had to pay, the hardships and endless hours, you were willing to do it. Sure other humans get hit by PTSD by one single event, but your risk came with your job.

From this point on, the direction of your life changes to forward because we're going to get you to stop looking back. It isn't about forgetting what happened, as much as it is making sense out of it and making peace with it. 

What is PTSD?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder seems like a bad term but when you break it down, it actually makes perfect sense.

Post means after something. Trauma is Greek for wound. So far you have experienced something that changed your life and left a wound. The event caused your whole body to go into stress mode. Everything you thought, felt and what was "normal" in you got out of order. See the hope there?

Ok then, try this. It means you survived "it" and all wounds can heal with the proper treatment. Stress does not last forever and for the "disorder" part, it means that it can be put back into order again. Nothing fell out of you even though it fell out of place.

The "you" you always were is still in there. With a lot of work, you can change how you are living and stop suffering as much as you are. There are things about PTSD that cannot be reversed but you can lean how to cope with them. The even better news is that you can actually come out on the other side better than before.

PTSD is change. Basically, you can change again.

The most important thing of all is understanding what it is and why you have it. It is not a mental illness. It is not even considered an anxiety disorder anymore. It is all by itself because the only way to get hit by PTSD is after trauma slams into you. It does not begin in you but invades you.

It has nothing to do with being weak at all but more about the strength of your emotional core. You carried away your own pain but the pain of others as well.

Starting today, take back control over your life.

A wise Marine veteran said, "PTSD does not have to control you. Just because you have PTSD it does not mean it has you!"

No doom! No gloom! No bad news on this site! Just a reminder of this simple fact. This second onward is within your control!

Time to change the conversation from suicide to healing PTSD

I was sitting on my deck playing with my new tablet after work today and was getting angry. It seems that for all the folks online talking about how they are raising awareness keep getting support even though they apparently never read the reports they are quoting. Anyway, the rest of what I have to say is on the video.

Ask them if it wasn't important enough for them to actually read the two reports, about 100 pages combined, then how important are the veterans they keep talking about to them?

PTSD Patrol Putting You in Control Over Your LIfe

I don't know about you but I am sure you're tired of hearing all the doom and gloom about PTSD as if there is nothing to look forward to. After all, right now everyone is talking about raising awareness on suicides, changing nothing about the outcomes for far too many families.

Here you will find ways to change the outcome in your life or the life of someone you love. 

Whatever you thought about PTSD yesterday, today is the day you discovered the most important thing of all. Today is the day you finally become aware of the fact that you will have PTSD the rest of your life but from this day on, you take back control over it instead of giving up.

There are many different causes of PTSD and all humans can get hit by events that are life altering in a bad way. While you are still only human and susceptible to everything else, you are not like everyone else. 

We're going to separate the term from this point on to SPTSD because this is all about PTSD related to your service to others. Military, police, firefighters, emergency responders and anyone on the front lines responding to the events that change everyone else. 

Humans can get hit by one single event, but you made a career out of a face off with death. The odds were stacked against you but you were in possession of somethings lacking in the rest of humanity. Courage and compassion to be willing to die for the sake of someone else.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.John 15:13

And this is from a Marine veteran talking about how much his life changed in just one year. After he thought he lost everything, including his best friend to suicide, he found what was within him all along and shares a message of hope that you can heal too!

The veteran in the following video did not win his own battle but he was part of a tribute video.



Do you want to heal? It means you need to do a lot of work on yourself, which thinking about yourself is one of the hardest things for you to do. You always came last. Think of it this way, the more you heal the more you can help others needing to do the same.