Make Someday Today

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
April 18, 2021

"Let's rewrite an ending that fits." Those words are from Nickelback Someday. If you've been saying that someday you'll get over what #PTSD is doing to you, how long have you been saying it? Someday you'll do something to change. How long are you willing to wait? How long do you think you'll try it the way it hasn't worked before you try another way? Someday?

How about you make someday today? The longer you take to decide it is time to #TakeBackYourLife, the more damage is done. Not just to you, but the people in your life are paying a price too. I've heard enough people say that they thought about committing suicide so they would stop being so unhappy and making everyone else in their family unhappy. It wasn't until they decided suicide would make their family take on a burden of pain they would be paying for with the rest of their lives. So much better to do what it takes to heal, than cover up you never really did from the event you survived.

So if you make changing your goal starting today, then tomorrow you can "rewrite an ending that fits." If you ever saw someone with PTSD at their worst, and then saw them after they healed, it is a beautiful thing to see. It is a testament to the human spirit and what can be accomplished, especially in someone who survived the thing that caused PTSD to hit them.

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it! #BreakTheSilence

Someday

Nickelback

How the hell'd we wind up like this?

And why weren't we able

To see the signs that we missed?

Try and turn the tables

I wish you'd unclench your fists

And unpack your suitcase

Lately there's been too much of this

But don't think it's too late

Nothing's wrong just as long as you know that someday I will

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright but not right now

I know you're wondering when

(You're the only one who knows that)

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright but not right now

I know you're wondering when

Well, I'd hope that since we're here anyway

We could end up saying

Things we've always needed to say

So we could end up staying

Now the story's played out like this

Just like a paperback novel

Let's rewrite an ending that fits

Instead of a Hollywood horror

Nothing's wrong just as long as you know that someday I will

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright but not right now

I know you're wondering when

(You're the only one who knows that)

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright but not right now

I know you're wondering when

(You're the only one who knows that)

How the hell'd we wind up like this?

And why weren't we able

To see the signs that we missed?

Try and turn the tables

Now the story's played out like this

Just like a paperback novel

Let's rewrite an ending that fits

Instead of a Hollywood horror

Nothing's wrong just as long as you know that someday I will

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright but not right now

I know you're wondering when

(You're the only one who knows that)

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright but not right now

I know you're wondering when

(You're the only one who knows that)

I know you're wondering when

(You're the only one who knows that)

I know you're wondering when

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Chad Kroeger / Michael Kroeger / Ryan Peake / Ryan Vikedal

Someday lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc

PTSD Patrol Playing With Fire

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 6, 2020

When you survive you may continue to feel helpless. Then someone comes along to give you hope that you can heal by telling their own story. When you see them, unashamed, standing tall and having the courage to share what they went through, that is powerful. I know it was powerful for me as I began to study PTSD and read about others talking about their own pain. We may break by different circumstances by ourselves, but when we find that thing that binds us to someone else, we realize the only limits are the ones we allow. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Playing With Fire

How To Heal From Trauma | Theo Fleury | Goalcast
Olympic superstar and NHL All-Star Theo Fleury shares his harrowing story of abuse in a powerful speech about the need to start a conversation around trauma and mental health.

“I want to show it’s possible to suffer but also to recover."

Former Mansfield soldier who tried to end her life stars on SAS: Who Dares Wins

CHAD UK
By Andrew Topping
Tuesday, 14th January 2020

A former soldier from Mansfield who was told she may “never walk again” after trying to end her life has gone on to star in Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins.

“I want to show it’s possible to suffer but also to recover." Donna Watts

Donna Watts, 36, served for eight years in the armed forces, being stationed in Germany for seven – which also included six months in Afghanistan with the Marines.

Donna, who had “always struggled with my sexuality”, came out as gay while in the Army and was named as ‘best recruit’ during her development.

The former Mansfield Town Ladies footballer left the Army in 2010 and went on to work for South Yorkshire Police, putting her Royal Military Police expertise to good use.

But during her time in the police she began to develop post-traumatic stress disorder and had a “mental breakdown” – trying to end her life, which was almost successful.

She has shared her story to raise awareness about mental health and the risks of PTSD.

“I drove to Whitby and jumped 200ft from a cliff to end my life. I was rescued about 10 hours later by helicopter”, she said.
read it here

Firefighter took back his life from PTSD, what are you waiting for?

‘I got my life back’: Four years into his recovery from PTSD, Frazee firefighter Scott Geiselhart spreads message of hope

DL Online
By Marie Johnson
Mar 6, 2019

“It took a suicide attempt to find out I had PTSD,” he says. “It was very unfortunate… I lost control of myself, so my suicide attempt was an attempt to regain control. But that was the worst decision I ever made in my life. I was confused. I was looking at things different than I do now… When I was in that place, I thought I was doing everybody a favor. That’s the darkness. That’s scary. When you lose control, you feel like you’re all alone.”

Scott Geiselhart, a longtime volunteer firefighter with the Frazee Fire Department, has been symptom-free from his PTSD and depression for about four years. He is pictured here with his service dog, Sarge. (Marie Johnson / Tribune)

Editor’s note: This is the second in an 8-part series of weekly feature stories written in conjunction with the “Inside Out” community campaign to normalize mental illness. The second “Inside Out” video, related to this story, is available to watch online at www.beckercountyenergize.com.

Imagine arriving at the scene of a bad accident. You see two crushed cars laying on their sides in the road. It’s your job to extract the crash victims from the insides of those cars. They’re hurt, and scared. One is just a child — about the same age as one of your own.

You do your job, you do everything right, but still, one of the victims doesn’t make it.

You step in and out of awful scenarios like this, over and over again, year after year after year. You can’t talk about any of it with your loved ones; it’s not allowed. You don’t want to talk about it with your colleagues; it’s not “macho.” So you swallow your emotions and carry on with life as best you can.

That’s what Scott Geiselhart did, for almost 20 years. As a longtime volunteer firefighter with the Frazee Fire Department, he witnessed trauma after trauma, and kept his feelings about it all bottled up. One day, that bottle got too full, and things started to spill over.

He started having horrible nightmares and jarring flashbacks of the accident scenes. To suppress the dark thoughts, he turned to alcohol, and to stay awake after sleepless nights, he started using meth. He isolated himself from his loved ones, trying to hide his addictions.

He felt scared, confused, and ashamed of his behavior. People around town always knew him as a good guy with a big heart, but at home his temper would flare, and he became verbally abusive toward his family. That led to more feelings of shame and guilt, and more drug use. He was spiralling out of control.

All the common signs of PTSD and depression were there, but he didn’t see any of that.

After more than 15 years of his symptoms getting progressively worse and worse, the bottle Geiselhart had been so desperately trying to contain everything in, finally broke open. Alone in his office one night, he picked up his gun, pressed it to his head, and pulled the trigger.
read more here

Suicide Prevention from Iraq veteran survivor

This video is from 2010. I was speaking at a Point Man conference and had my camera so that I could record the band playing.

For a unique reason, if you know what I mean, I kept the camera rolling when they were done. That is why the footage is so shaky. My hands were shaking as I was listening to Paul speak about what changed his life.

When we had a break, I told him I had recorded it. I gave him a choice. I could give him the tape, destroy it, or, put it up on YouTube. It did not take more than a second before he said, "Get it up on Youtube. I'm tired of losing my men."

Iraq Vet talks about PTSD and his work with Point Man Ministries and how he didn't want to live. Paul's life was saved and he became a leader in Point Man to make sure others learned to live after war.

Part 2

Part two, Iraq vet talks about PTSD and his work with Point Man Ministries and how he put the gun in his mouth