PTSD Patrol Learning How to Use Overdrive

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 30, 2020

Yesterday you got out of the ditch with help. Today you are back on the road, but facing a steep hill toward your journey of healing. It can be a great road trip once you get over this hill.

Working so far on your mind by being evaluated and getting mental heal help was like tuning your engine. Working on your body, was like charging your battery. Now is the time to work on your spirit.

The hill you are dealing with is only hard to get over because of what you didn't really leave behind you. You are still carrying that cargo and it is too heavy. Hanging onto anger, judgement and negative emotions is allowing what happened to you, control you. Learning how to forgive is the only way to take back your power and that comes from OVERDRIVE. 

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Love in Action 

Romans 12

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 

10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 

11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 

12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 

13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 

16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 

18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 

20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

PTSD Patrol getting you out of the ditch

Driving down the road is never fun when you get stuck in a ditch. Sooner or later someone comes along, figures out how you got there, and how to get you out of it so you can get to where you want to go! That is my job when you are dealing with PTSD! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife 

PS If you watch the videos from last year, Murray is in this one!

PTSD Patrol resting on road trip toward healing

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 28, 2020

Hopefully you watched the other videos and have been taking the steps to have a successful road trip on the road to healing. 

Any great road trip requires a time to rest. The journey toward healing is no different. Take a day to just relax your body and rest your mind.

PTSD Awareness Day: Be Aware of Healing

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 27, 2020

Over 7 million Americans have PTSD and the only thing they need to know is awareness of hope to heal. It can get better and you can take back your life.

PTSD healing with shock absorbers

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 26, 2020

Here is a way to explain to people what a traumatic event is and why you were changed by it. 

They will understand it because every person on the planet experienced it. They just never think about it this way.

Every part of you was involved in the event that created the shock. Every part of your has shock absorbers already built in. Your system may have been overloaded and you may need help. But...every other time in your life, you adapted to what happened with help, including the one that everyone understands.

Also know that you can overcome it as a survivor with help. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

PTSD is collision damage you can repair

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 25, 2020

The event that caused PTSD was a collision between what you life was like before it happened, and what it has turned into. Vehicles you drive can be repaired afterwards...and so can you! 

Vehicle collisions cause a total loss or damage gets fixed. A total loss only happens if you do not survive but otherwise survivors can be repaired. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

What drives you is more important than what you drive

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 24, 2020

It does not matter what you drive when it comes to getting to where you want to go, especially if you are trying to heal PTSD. It is a matter of what drives you that will get you there.

If you were the type of person always ready to help someone else, follow your own advice and ask for it for yourself.

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

PTSD? Time to see a mechanic

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 23, 2020

When your vehicle isn't running right you take it to a mechanic. They put it on the diagnostic testing to figure out what is going on. Go to a trauma specialist to figure out what is going on with you. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Building your monument moments healing PTSD

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 22, 2020 

There is a huge debate going on in the country about taking down monuments. Some are painful reminders of events. Some are good ones. Much like you are a monument of moments in your own history. Traumatic events are painful, but you can make peace with those moments in your history. You can also build you life's joyful moments because you are doing more than just believing you can. You are taking an active part in defining yourself as a survivor. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

PTSD: Not making it harder on your road crew

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 21, 2020

This was a hard one for me to do, but it is important. It explains how we are not in any of this alone. We have family and friends, who care about us. When they do not understand what is going on, they assume the worst. Usually they blame themselves.

We make it worse if we cannot explain it to them. Gain as much knowledge as you can about PTSD and then help them understand so that all of you can heal together.

Something happened when I was just 5 years old. It nearly destroyed my family but I was too young to understand it myself. It is explained in this video.

When you are fighting PTSD, it is important to choose your team and accept the help from them. Race car drivers do not get out and change their own tires. This is about how people can effect the whole family and how important it is to recognize how we impact them. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Do not drive them away when you need them

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 20, 2020

With everything going on in this country and chaos in communities, many people who have dedicated their lives to those communities are being torn apart. 

Healthcare workers are panicked because the pandemic is spreading faster than they can keep up with. They want to be able to breathe again but when they ask for people to wear a mask and social distance to stop the spread of COVID-19, they get harassed.

Police Officers are being threatened, attacked and condemned for what a few bad ones did, plus facing losing their jobs with the push to "defund" the police departments. Yet these same officers turn around, show up for their shifts, put their lives on the line all over again every day. 

Protestors are pushing for change, and rightly so, but in the process, they are opening the way for looters and rioters to destroy the communities...the same cities and towns that lost police vehicles.

Everyone else is either fighting over doing things for the sake of others, or whining about wanting to go out and have fun again.

It's a mess! If you do not have PTSD yet, many of you will if you do not take action now.

If you are one of the people serving your communities, facing all of this, you need to remember that those you serve with, are in it for the same reason. Trust one another and stop pushing them away so that they can help you heal...and then you can help them heal too!

If you made it your job to save other people, then shouldn't it also be your job to let those you serve with save your's too? Wouldn't you do it for them? Then instead of driving them away, let them know you need their help to stay. #BreakTheSilentService and #TakeBackYourLife

The best way to begin a healing road trip is with your family

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 19, 2020

The best way to begin a healing road trip is with your family, or those who support you. That way, they can be your co-pilots instead of just watching you drive away.

Let them know what is on your mind. Let them know that you are doing this for them, as well as yourself.

Here is the first post from 2017.

Reminder, up until this month, my work was focused on veterans. Please substitute whatever caused your trauma whenever you see "combat" or "veteran" metioned.

From 2017

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.
v 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!

Starting today, we're going to be changing the conversation from suicide to empowerment. The only way to change the outcome, is to help veterans find hope again. They need to know what PTSD is, why they have it, but more than that, they need to know they can take back control of their lives. Lot better than taking their lives isn't it?

February 2018
Starting today, we're going to be changing the conversation from suicide to empowerment. The only way to change the outcome, is to help veterans find hope again. They need to know what PTSD is, why they have it, but more than that, they need to know they can take back control of their lives. Lot better than taking their lives isn't it? Check back on Sunday mornings for more. If you have one of those groups "raising awareness" then please stop talking about what veterans already know how to do and start helping them learn what they need to know, how to #TakeBackYourLife

From March 2018

Getting out of neutral Sunday morning empowerment zone features Marine veteran filmed yesterday at the Orlando Nam Knights bikeweek party. His simple message is empowerment! Take control of your life from this moment on. It's up to you where you go from here!

Getting ready for road trip to change your life

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 18, 2020

Today starts your road trip to Happier Life! Everyday there will be videos shot when I lived in Florida that covers the parts of the vehicle you drive and how they related to the vehicle you live in. Healing PTSD is possible if you get the right road map to get you there!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Starting tomorrow, videos on this will be republished from ones shot in Florida. 

PTSD Patrol Ending Road Rage

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 17, 2020

If you were combat. the vehicle you did your job in, was bringing you toward danger. If you were in Law Enforcement, it was taking you into danger. For firefighters and EMTs, it was taking you toward danger. If you were in an accident, being behind the wheel afterwards is hard too. 

If you have PTSD and experienced road rage because of your jobs, this may help you learn how to avoid it in the future. 

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Driving lessons and detours

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 16, 2020

Yesterday I managed to put up the video, but nothing else. This post is about driving lessons and detours.

This is the video from yesterday.

Today it was one thing after another, but finally managed to do what i wanted to do. Most days are like that for a lot of people, especially living with #PTSD. If you have not done the first steps, please go back and review them, or the following will not help you as much.
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Today I had to do a couple of errands. We have only lived here about six months and while I am used to driving places I normally go to without a GPS, I have to use it for every other trip.

There was a detour on my way home and I had to follow the signs to find my way. Having PTSD is a very unfamiliar road for you. With following the signs that show you the way to get where you want to go...you'll get there!

When you are trying to heal as a survivor, confusion is like running into a detour. A familiar road is not open to you, so you have follow the signs to figure out how to get to where you want to go. Healing PTSD is the same feeling, when you know where you want to go, but things get messed up. You need to follow directions and get you to your destination. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Lesson 6 resting in neutral to heal PTSD

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 14, 2020

When the bad memory of the event, or events, park in your mind, it is necessary to go into reverse and retrieve the good memories that were left behind.

It could be acts of compassion, bravery, any other good memory that helped you get through the event and redeem your faith in humanity. 

In the video today, I mention September 11th when so many people did whatever they could to help others survive that day. There were more of them doing good than the few who decided to do something so horrible to people they did not know.

In the rearview mirror, I used an image that showed one of those moments. The thing is, what came afterwards is just as powerful when the woman in the photograph, hired the photographer who memorialize this act of compassion.

Woman Pictured in Iconic 9/11 Photo Hires Same Photographer for Wedding 17 Years Later 

Fstoppers 

by Jack Alexander 

September 18, 2018 

17 years after she became the subject of one of the most iconic photos from the 9/11 terror tragedy, a woman has hired the photographer behind the image to be her wedding photographer. 

Joanne "JoJo" Capestro was one of the lucky people who managed to make it out of the World Trade Center’s North Tower alive. As seen in photographer Phil Penman’s photo, she and a colleague were walking away from the site, clearly shaken up and covered in thick white dust and debris. 

Back then, she had no idea that it was renowned street photographer Penman that had captured her in the moment of crisis. 

The pair later formally met back in 2015 at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, where Penman’s photo of Capestro was on display. And in coming full circle, on August 11th of this year, he fulfilled the duty of capturing Capestro’s wedding day, 17 years later. read their story here

After you went into reverse, hopefully you found some memories during the event that were good. Maybe it was one, or two, or many more. They can become just as powerful as the terrible memory was. Going into neutral gear, rest and think about those good memories until they become stronger and stronger. You will need them for when we discuss going into the drive forward when you #BreakTheSilence of #PTSD and #TakeBackYourLife

Lesson five: Going in reverse to heal PTSD

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 13, 2020

Before you automatically get upset, this is not about cognitive therapy. This is about going back to pick up memories your mind dropped off.

Survivors still struggle one year after the Las Vegas shooting

Mandalay Bay was the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.

58 killed Around 10 p.m. Sunday (1 a.m. ET), gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort on a crowd watching Aldean. Several weapons were located in the 64-year-old Paddock's hotel room. Police reported at least 58 people were killed and more than 500 people were injured in the shooting.

Horrible memories for the families of those killed, and for the wounded...but also for those who witnessed it. This is PTSD territory. No one goes there on purpose. The road is always marked by DANGER signs no one sees until it is too late.

The murderer knew what he planned but no one else did. None of the 22,000 who were there thought about anything other than having a good time, listening to music and having fun. 

That took hold of everyone. It hitched a ride in their memories. But the wondrous thing is that other memories tried to hitch a ride too. Going back to pick them up, is one of the most important steps to begin to heal.

Among all those who were killed, wounded, traumatized and went on automatic pilot for flight, there were hundreds doing whatever they could to help. They rushed to help strangers...protect others and then comfort those who needed it.

When terrible things happen, especially because of what someone does, your mind will hang onto that memory because it caused everything else. You mind and sense also took in the images of people who went on autopilot to fight, risk their lives to help others make it out of there.

Go back and get those good images back and that will let you remember that compassion was there that day too.
Here is a good place to start to understand how much power there is in that lesson.

‘I felt safe with him’: Woman marries man who saved her in Las Vegas mass shooting 

“Next thing I knew, Austin was holding my hand and we were running through the entire grounds trying to make it to safety,” she told People.

At first, both thought the noises were fireworks. Monfort said he felt compelled to protect her once he realized what was happening. 

“I felt a sense of responsibility for Chantal,” Monfort, 24, told People. “She was with me and not her friends. I felt like not only did I have to get myself out, but also her. Keeping her calm and getting her out kept me calm, and didn’t allow me to panic.”

LESSON 4 Why events park in your brain

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 12, 2020

Four years ago today, about 300 people were at a nightclub for an evening of fun, dancing and drinking with their friends. It was the night a maniac decided to kill 49 of them, wound many others and change the lives of hundreds more.

WESH News

Remembering victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting: 4 years later

ORLANDO -- A ceremony commemorating the fourth anniversary of a massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida was being held virtually Friday because of the coronavirus, instead of members of the public gathering outside the club to remember the victims as in years past. 

A pre-taped, online ceremony was being held to remember the 49 people who were killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016. The area around the club was closed to the public Friday, though survivors, family members of victims and first-responders were being allowed to visit. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff Friday for Pulse Remembrance Day, and he asked Floridians to pause for a moment in the morning to remember the Pulse victims. 

"Four years have now passed, but our community's commitment to honoring the 49 angels and supporting the survivors, families of the victims and first responders remains strong," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer tweeted. read it here

It hit and took a place in their minds. Even for those who were not there that night, it was hard to walk away from the TVs and the news coverage. Cell phones ringing haunted the responders who were there after it had all stopped, but for them, it never stopped happening.

Sandy Hook, September 11, Mandalay Bay,  Boston Marathon, Challenger Explosion, and many more events, written in history but recorded in our minds. They parked there! Most people remember where they were and what they were doing during huge events such as these. The memories only come back when reminded about them for most people.

It is a different story for those who have those memories parked in their emotional engine. They do not need to be reminded of something that would not allow them to forget.

It happened to over 7 million Americans. Far too many do not know what it is and have not been diagnosed, but the only way to be hit by PTSD, is a life altering event, such as the ones above.

This is from the MAYO Clinic

Intrusive memories

Symptoms of intrusive memories may include:

Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event
Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks)
Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event
Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event
Avoidance

Symptoms of avoidance may include:

Trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event
Avoiding places, activities or people that remind you of the traumatic event
Negative changes in thinking and mood

Symptoms of negative changes in thinking and mood may include:

Negative thoughts about yourself, other people or the world
Hopelessness about the future
Memory problems, including not remembering important aspects of the traumatic event
Difficulty maintaining close relationships
Feeling detached from family and friends
Lack of interest in activities you once enjoyed
Difficulty experiencing positive emotions
Feeling emotionally numb
Changes in physical and emotional reactions

Symptoms of changes in physical and emotional reactions (also called arousal symptoms) may include:

Being easily startled or frightened
Always being on guard for danger
Self-destructive behavior, such as drinking too much or driving too fast
Trouble sleeping
Trouble concentrating
Irritability, angry outbursts or aggressive behavior
Overwhelming guilt or shame
For children 6 years old and younger, signs and symptoms may also include:
Re-enacting the traumatic event or aspects of the traumatic event through play
Frightening dreams that may or may not include aspects of the traumatic event

Intensity of symptoms

PTSD symptoms can vary in intensity over time. You may have more PTSD symptoms when you're stressed in general, or when you come across reminders of what you went through. For example, you may hear a car backfire and relive combat experiences. Or you may see a report on the news about a sexual assault and feel overcome by memories of your own assault.

When to see a doctor

If you have disturbing thoughts and feelings about a traumatic event for more than a month, if they're severe, or if you feel you're having trouble getting your life back under control, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional. Getting treatment as soon as possible can help prevent PTSD symptoms from getting worse.

Tomorrow we'll talk about how to go from park to reverse.

5 stages of grieving and 5 gears to healing PTSD

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 11, 2020

Trying to keep these as short as possible. The basic message in this one is that there are 5 gears in an automatic transmission and each one represents movement, as well as how to heal PTSD.

I usually try to explain all this in terms of your car. Everyone can basically understand how to use their car, but few can understand how to use their own minds to get them to where they want to go.

THESE ARE THE 5 STAGES OF GRIEF

The 5 stages of grief and loss are: 1. Denial and isolation; 2. Anger; 3. Bargaining; 4. Depression; 5. Acceptance. People who are grieving do not necessarily go through the stages in the same order or experience all of them.

5 GEARS

Part

Reverse

Neutral

Drive

Over Drive

And this is how you start to decide what you want to do when you get into your vehicle....not your car but the vehicle you live in!

This is my prayer for all of you!

Praise to the God of All Comfort Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 New International Version (NIV) 

Lesson Two: Getting past gloomy days

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 10, 2020

Today I posted on Wounded Times that is was the end. Really hard considering I started it back in 2007. Over 31,000 posts on it, tons of research and countless articles, it was hard to let it go, but it was important that I did it in order to move on.

Honestly, it was making me miserable. Being miserable made is very difficult to come up with messages offering hope. 

Starting today, this is where I will invest my work, and this is why it is more important than ever to focus on everyone with PTSD. This is from the SIDRAN Institute

Facts at a Glance
▪ An estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives and up to 20 percent of these people go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
▪ An estimated 5 percent of Americans—more than 13 million people—have PTSD at any given time.
▪ Approximately 8.7 percent of all adults—1 of 13 people in this country—will develop PTSD during their lifetime.
▪ About 3.6% of adults in the United States suffer from PTSD during the course of a year.
▪ An estimated 1 out of 9 women will get PTSD at some time in their lives. Women are about twice as likely as men to develop PTSD.

Although PTSD was caused by different events, the outcome is the same. People struggle and need help to find their own way to heal.

I needed to find a way to help do that without having my work stolen. Every video, will have my face on it. I may link to other videos but you will know exactly where they came from. That is one rule I never broke in all the years I have been doing this. What I write will be backed up with the video so no one can say it was their work especially when whatever they do, shows up long after the video goes up.

I believe I was put on this earth to help people heal, because I am one of you! I also believe it is time that I protect my work better than I have before.

I should call these chats from the garage, since that is where I seem to be doing most of them. This one is about how one day can be really gloomy in your life, just like the weather. The thing everyone needs to remember is, the sun is shining somewhere and will shine on your "house" again. Honor what you are feeling as a survivor and then talk about what is going on. As soon as you do, you take power away from PTSD and your life begins to stop being so gloomy!

Problems stop when solutions start

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

June 5, 2020

This country has so many problems it seems as if everything is going wrong. It is hard to find hope with the pandemic claiming lives, coupled with massive protests, riots, looters and everyone being fed up with having to stay in instead of outside enjoying themselves. It is all even harder on veterans.

Everyone watched the public memorial service for George Floyd yesterday as hundreds gathered together along with politicians and celebrities. We have all been watching the protests across the country as thousands exercise their right to assemble, even when their states are dealing with a pandemic. 

Most have been complying with social distancing and wearing a mask in public who are not part of any of those events. Most understand the need to avoid crowds at the same time they want to reduce what the medical community has been subjected to with so many facing death. Yet some are attacking them for being afraid as if it is not doing our part to protect others.

Police Officers are under attack, and so are citizens. Businesses are being destroyed. 

The majority within the Veterans Community have been horrified by the stunts as more and more pop up to raise "suicide awareness" when they themselves did not even make themselves aware of what the facts were before they picked that number of 22. Wish they spent as much time and energy raising healing awareness so that lives would actually be saved and veterans start healing instead of struggling.

The latest thing is when taking a knee has been a powerful statement when police officers have joined protestors, and then people just think it is OK to do it even during the National Anthem. It is hurtful to veterans and patriotic people. There is a time and place for everything but no one is bothering to think of when that actually should be.

We have the military being used for "security" against our own people and retired Generals coming out to say how wrong this is. We have elected politicians failing to fix anything and because they are not held accountable they are adding to the problems we face.

Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, a gigantic asteroid the size of the Empire State Building, murder hornets killing bees, over 40 million Americans out of work, people lining up at Food banks at the same time farmers were killing livestock, dumping crops and processing plants had to shut down because of COVID-19 spreading. 

What we have not seen is the solution to anything. We will stay divided until people actually use their brains to find the solutions. If you think that the rate of PTSD in this country is high now....it is about to turn into a tsunami and we're standing there with a beach shovel!

Want to change what is wrong? Then start with what is right and doing the right thing instead of what is easy for you to do!

Message to Police Officers....we're praying for you!

Police Officers:Joining Protestors in Prayers

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
June 2, 2020

Grieving hearts do not heal unless what unites you to the communities you serve know you care. Right now, that is exactly what is happening all over the country.

Members of Law Enforcement are showing the protestors you do care about them. After all, they are the ones you risk your lives for everyday. They tend to forget that in times such as these.

When riots started and looters destroyed businesses, police cars were set on fire, it was hard to find anything hopeful. What a few officers did to George Floyd repulsed the nation but what many people did not understand is, it also repulsed most of you.

The vast majority of all of you are stunning! Thinking about what you are facing has some wondering how you do it. How do you keep showing up knowing that you may not make it back home...topped off with the fact that too many in your own community hate you?

Then I think about Jesus. He knew what was going to happen to Him in the end, but He still preached love, compassion and charity. He kept showing up, knowing that dark day would come and He would sacrifice His live for everyone else.

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

But you are willing to do it for strangers too! That requires courage, obviously, but it also requires love.

You are all paying the price for what a few officers have done to betray the badge they wear and that is a shame but I wanted you to know that most of us are grateful for your service. 

If you need more assurance of this, then read some recent news reports and the response from your communities. Know that you are not their enemy and noticed that they are not yours because of the actions and compassion you have shown!

WZZM 13 News

NewsBreak

WFLX News

Lexington Herald Leader

USA Today

You are in my prayers as well!

PTSD Patrol Family Road Trip Guide

Learn how to make a difference

Wounded Times
Cross Posted on PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
June 1, 2020


No matter what you think you know about PTSD, the truth is,  you have a lot more power than you think you do. The problem is, until you learn how to use it, things will still suck!

PTSD Patrol Family Road Trip Guide
We have actually taken a back seat for far too long!

This video was the first one I did on PTSD and Wounded Minds to help you learn more about the difference you can make. Originally it went up in 2006 and was reposted afterwards.

Help Raise PTSD Awareness

National Center for PTSD

There are currently about 8 million people in the United States with PTSD.

Even though PTSD treatments work, most people who have PTSD don't get the help they need. June is PTSD Awareness Month. Help us spread the word that effective PTSD treatments are available. Everyone with PTSD—whether they are Veterans or civilian survivors of sexual assault, serious accidents, natural disasters, or other traumatic events—needs to know that treatments really do work and can lead to a better quality of life.

Join Us
During PTSD Awareness Month, and throughout the entire year, help raise awareness about the many different PTSD treatment options. You can make a difference in the lives of Veterans and others who have experienced trauma. Everyone can help.
read it here