Healers and protectors in isolation right now need to help each other

When you know your work is not worthless

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 25, 2020

During this time of isolation, it has been really hard to fight depression, especially when my life has been about helping veterans and their families. My husband and I are both over 60 and have health problems. Being out with people is dangerous for me, but more so for him. It is also dangerous for all others. Knowing that isolation is very hard on veterans, especially when they have PTSD, rips at my soul!

I just put up a video for the leaders in Point Man International Ministries, knowing that if I am going through all of this, they must be too. Sharing pain is often healing for us and gives comfort to others going through the same thing. Knowing you are not alone is empowering!

None of us can stand very long on our own. Sure, we gain strength from our faith and reliance on God, but we gain more by following our own advice. We tell veterans to share their pain with others and support each other. We need to follow that same advice but all too often, we fear letting others know just how human we are. We fear asking for help because we are supposed to be full of the Holy Spirit and faith enough to not be afraid of anything. Still not sure how we got that idea or the notion that we are any better than the people were have dedicated our lives to helping, but we did. 

We are just as human as everyone else and most of us are not ashamed to admit that. Even Jesus was not afraid to ask for help, yet we have a problem with that?

After I recorded this video I was thinking about all the others who are healers and protectors in isolation right now because they were exposed to COVID-19 on the job, or prevented from doing their work for other reasons. It hits us even harder because our mission on this earth is to help other people. When we cannot do it, it crushes our soul.

Please keep in mind that right now, the best thing we can do is help each other get through this time so that we will be there, rested and restored to help all the others who will need us, when we get back to whatever normal is again.

Not being able to work with other veterans is hard during this time of isolation for any of us. Take comfort knowing you are not alone, just as we give comfort to others with that same message. My heart and prayer are with all of you.

UPDATE from Hong Kong

Steven Chau: Who will heal the healers? The psychological aftermath of covid-19

On top of these stressors, healthcare workers tend to be more reluctant to seek help for mental health problems due to worries about confidentiality, stigma, and the fear of losing their medical licenses. A study on disaster preparedness in Hong Kong conducted in 2015 found that 75% of healthcare workers were unlikely to seek help from mental health professionals for psychological distress secondary to their handling of a disaster. It is therefore critical to plan stringent, proactive psychological support measures early on to facilitate distressed workers in seeking help and to prevent unintended secondary injury being inflicted upon them. The prevention of further psychological harm should be a major consideration in any post-pandemic policies that follow and which are related to healthcare workers.

How one Army vet is lifting female service members

'It's a harder identification': How one Army vet is lifting female service members

Yahoo Finance
March 23, 2020

“I was a bit of a Private Benjamin,” she said. “I didn't know what I was getting myself into.”

When Lucy Del Gaudio parks in a veteran space, attends events for former service members, or is out with her husband on Veterans Day, she hardly is recognized.

“They're like: ‘Oh, thank you for your service, Mr. Del Gaudio,” said the Army vet from the Desert Storm era. “That's something that women face all the time... it's a harder identification and they automatically assume that he's the veteran, not you.”

That invisibility hurts female veterans in bigger ways — from homelessness to health care — and Del Gaudio is working hard to combat that. But it was a long journey for her as she had to first overcome sexual trauma she experienced in the military before giving back.

“I felt like my service was tarnished. I really didn't discuss it” until a friend in 2014 convinced her to join a veterans organization, se explained. “He goes: ‘Lucy, you should join. Your story should be heard. Other women veterans should know what you experienced and you could help them.’"
read it here

Private Benjamin (1980) Official Trailer - Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan Movie HD

PTSD Patrol starting story time for isolated veterans

update and confession on the other delay

update project delay due to camera issues.....

Story time coming to PTSD Patrol

PTSD Patrol
Cross Posted on Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 23, 2020

Four years ago, I wrote Residual War. It was the first fiction book I wrote as a way to tell some stories that were factual mixed with stuff my mind came up with.

Residual War: Something Worth Living For (Volume 1) Paperback – October 2, 2016

Heroes do not think. They react to someone in danger. The Army was Amanda Leverage's life and she was willing to die to save the two lives she ended up blaming for spreading misery and suffering. She never needed to think of why she was willing to die but needed help finding something worth living for. She found it within a group of outcast heroes with their own history of selfless acts being punished for what they did wrong but protected for what they did right. PTSD, survivors guilt, homeless veterans, dishonorable discharges, flashbacks, nightmares and yes, even suicides were part of their lives but so was redemption.

Since I was supposed to be starting an Out Post for female veterans, here in New Hampshire just before the COVID-19 virus hit, it has been very depressing for me. I was offered room at the local American Legion to meet, but it is too dangerous for everyone now.

Experts say that the worst thing a veteran with PTSD can do, is to isolate, but now it is more dangerous for you to be out, and even worse to be in crowds. I needed to think outside the box on this to give you some comfort and fill up some of your time. I'll be reading this book on video, with a bit of a twist to it. I am setting a timer of 3 minutes. Whenever it goes off, whatever word I am on, that will be the end of the video.

We will then play a game as to what that final word means to you. If the word is "and" reply back withy something like "me and" or "and then" or whatever you think about. Should get some interesting replies on that.

It will pick up on the next word in the next video. You can cheat since Amazon has it for free on Kindle and apparently, for whatever reason, you can also read it on their preview page for free.

I am also opening up my YouTube and Facebook pages so you can share your thoughts and to answer questions from 12:00 pm eastern to 1:00 when the first video goes up this week.You can always email me at woundedimes@aol.com too.

Check back tomorrow for the official announcement on PTSD Patrol when the first video will go up!

Please share this since word of mouth has been the only way this site was able to be viewed over 4 million times!

American Legion Post 7 Presents Arms

American Legion Post 7 Presents Arms to Police Officers

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 11, 2020

Tonight at the American Legion Post 7 in Rochester New Hampshire, they presented new rifles to the Police Honor Guard in return for their kindness and support to the Legion Honor Guard. Great to see groups helping each other!

You need someone to fuel that hope you do have left

Start fueling last glimmer of hope to heal

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 11, 2020

When you have the last glimmer of hope left, it does you no good to hear a slogan because someone supposedly cares about you. You do not need to be reminded about other veterans who lost their battle because someone extinguished all hope.

You need someone to fuel that hope you do have left so that you know tomorrow can be so much better than today. You need someone to stand by your side and show you the way to be happier.

Point Man has been doing since 1984.

We all know what the job of someone walking point is. This is from Foreign Policy

The point man is way out in front of the others. It is his responsibility to detect any signs of an enemy ambush… When a point man sees something that really worries him, he will merely drop down flat on the ground, and everyone behind him will do the same.

The strain on a point man is constant and he is usually exhausted by the end of the patrol. Always volunteers. There are some men, like Van Horn, who are great at it and feel obligated he offer their services often… It may sound phony, but — to me — being a good point man requires talent. It is a beautiful thing to watch a good one at work.

That is exactly what leaders in Point Man do, watch out for others and find the best way to keep them safe from the ambushes of PTSD.

Point Man started because a Vietnam veteran came home, took a job as a police officer and again, put his life on the line. He also pushed his pride aside. He had seen too many other veterans suffering and he knew they needed help. He met them in coffee shops at first. Then he expanded the efforts to reach more by setting up small groups called Out Posts. After realizing families also needed help, he started Home Fronts.

All the help Point Man offers is free of charge, continues to be operated in small groups so that no one feels lost and we stand by your side. Point Man leaders do not walk away!

After all these years, we found what works and it works because you are our priority. We are a Christian non-denominational group, and as such, our job is not to get you into a church. Our job is to help you rediscover the connection you have to God and honor your service. Because you were tugged to risk your life for the sake of others, you pay a higher price.

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

You were willing to do that. Can you lay down your pride and ask for help now that you need it because of your job?

If you are looking to fuel that glimmer of hope you have left, find a Point Man group in your area. This is the link to Out Posts and Home Fronts. If there is not one in your area, you can contact headquarters online. There is also a prayer section for whatever you are going through, and you can also call 1-800-877-8387

This world needs more angels like you on this earth!

Veterans rise again tomorrow with hope

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 9, 2020

With the knowledge that suicide awareness has not worked, it is time to change the conversation to what does save lives...the truth!

Suicide awareness groups have raised billions over the years, while the evidence has proven the spread of hopelessness. It is time to spread something to hope for...a life that can be so much better than it is today.

"I saw the angel in the marble
and carved until I set him free."

Michelangelo

It is time for you to carve away the hardness trapping you and be set free from the misery. If you were willing to risk your life for the sake of someone else, this world needs more angels like you on this earth!

Stop trying to conceal the pain you feel. Stop trying to run from it and honor it, so you can release it. If you want to cry, then cry. If you want to scream, then scream. There is no shame in anyone needing to release it. If that pain was caused because you put others ahead of your own life, then there is even more need to honor the pain because it all joined forces against you.

"What is now proved was once only imagined."

William Blake

There was a time when veterans thought there was no hope for them. The scares carried home were beyond healing. Back in the 70's, one veteran after another imagined a time would come when the bonds to others would help break away the painful memories. 

Side by side, they broke their own silence when they saw one of their own suffering. They healed PTSD together.

That is still going on today. You will not find them, if you do not look for them. They cannot help you if they do not know where you are. 

As Michelangelo carved the marble to free the angel, he needed to do more than see it in his own mind. He had to plan how to make the block of marble look like he thought it could become. He had to do the work to create it. He did it!

If you decided to rise up this morning to hope, thank you for being an inspiration of what is possible, because that is exactly what you will become when you help others heal by standing by their side.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

Michelangelo