PTSD Patrol Changing Your Purpose

Types of vehicles have different purposes

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 28, 2018

We choose vehicles based on what we like and what we need to do. If you need to clear snow, then you would want to have a snow plow. While a plow will clear snow, it would not be good to put one on a race track. That is, unless you plan on clearing other cars by shoving them out of the way.

On the other hand, a race car is meant for speed, and could clear snow very fast with a plow attached to it. The trouble is, it would not be able to do it very long.

When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. I always thought that I would be writing horror novels, instead of surviving horrors. Now I write about horrors in a much different way.

I could look at my life and think that it went off track, because while I wrote three books, I have not finished one of the several horror books I started. I am not sure what to even find the manuscripts now. I did not choose this work. My life did.

Most of us think we are supposed to do something and it sucks when we cannot do them, for one reason or another. You may think that because your job caused you to be invaded by PTSD, you cannot save anyone anymore.

That is because you are not looking at how many you can still save by letting them know there is hope for their lives too. 

Think about the group of veterans in TEAM RUBICON. They are no longer in the military, but used their training and desire to help by responding to disasters. They put their lives on the line all the time because they put others first, just like they did in the military.

Find what you do best and then find a different way to do it. Being of service to others comes in many different ways. You can still be true to the core of who you are, even though how you do it changed. #TakeBackYourLife

Getting help on the road with a push of a button

Flash for a healing chance
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 7, 2018

When your vehicle is having trouble, there is a simple button you push to let others know you need help. It turns on your hazard lights.

Everyone behind you sees those lights. They will either pass you by with caution, or they may try to help you.

This is from WheelZine
When to Use Hazard Lights
Though most people use hazard lights for mundane and unimportant things like speaking on the cell-phone while in traffic (which is illegal, mind you) or lighting a cigarette or adjusting the music system, the actual purpose behind the installation of these lights is to communicate a possible danger to the oncoming or passing traffic. Given below are some of the occasions when you can and should use hazard lights.

• When you are experiencing a sudden car problem in the middle of traffic, switch on the lights and slowly pull over. Keep the lights flashing till the problem is solved.
• In case of dense fog, you can switch on the hazard lights to warn traffic on both the sides of the road.
• When traffic on a usually traffic-free road is slow or stalled for some reason, you can turn on the hazard lights to indicate to the traffic behind you that traffic ahead of you is stalled.
• Another situation in which you can turn on hazard lights is when you are moving up a steep slope, which has caused your vehicle to slow down considerably. The blinkers will tell the vehicles behind you to proceed with caution.

In the 70's we had Mood Rings that were supposed to let other people know how we were feeling.

Chart of Mood Ring Colors and Meanings This chart shows the colors and meaning of the usual 1970s style of mood ring.

This chart shows the colors of the typical 1970s mood ring and the meanings associated with the mood ring colors:
Amber: Nervous, unhappy, cool
Green: Average, calm
Blue: Emotions are charged, active, relaxed
Violet: Passionate, excited, very happy
Black: Tense, nervous (or broken crystal)
Gray: Strained, anxious
The color of the warmest temperature is violet or purple. The color of the coolest temperature is black or gray.

Wouldn't it be great if all you had to do was push a button or show a ring to let people know you needed help? It would make life easier. The thing is, in reality, no one will come to help you if they do not know you need it!

You do have to do something to let them know you need help to get up that steep slope to #TakeBackYourLife. 

The first step is finally accepting the fact that you are not a victim. You are a survivor. You survived the event that set PTSD off in the first place. 

Second step is understanding that while about 7 million Americans have PTSD, and most of the time, from one event in their lives, you faced multiple times on your job, plus what could have happened just living as a simple citizen.

Thirdly, possibly the most important thing to accept is, that while you would have sacrificed your life to save others, the others you were with decided to dedicate their lives to saving as well. How much you want to bet they would do the same for you? After all, you'd do it for them. Wouldn't you?

The only risk you are taking is trusting them enough to let them know you need help. If you trust them with your life, then trust them all the way!

PTSD Patrol and Wounded Times in Top PTSD Sites

Top 75 PTSD Blogs and Websites in 2018 

(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

PTSD Patrol has only been up about a year. Already it is in the Top 75 PTSD Sites from Feedspot!

And for Combat PTSD Wounded Times, it is number 10!!!!

Considering this has all been accomplished by hard work and LOYAL READERS LIKE YOU SHARING THAT WORK, 

THANK YOU IS JUST NOT ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN HOW MUCH PEOPLE LIKE YOU MEAN TO ME!!!!

PTSD Patrol: Golden oldies crankshaft

PTSD Patrol: Cranky Shafted?
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
September 23, 2018

This is for the majority of veterans in the US. Older, but unfortunately, not as wise as you should be when it comes to PTSD.

Veterans over the age of 50, are also the majority of veterans known to be committing suicide. Yep, that long after surviving combat, the battle to stay alive is lost all too often.

Most of it is because you thought you escaped all you went through while you were busy working, raising kids and doing what everyone does. Filling up time instead of relaxing.

Faced with retirement and other life changes, no longer too busy, time catches up with you. Suddenly it is as if you were hit by a sledgehammer when nightmares, flashbacks and mood swings take over. Not knowing what is going on, it is easy to get cranky.

AutoZone Crankshaft

"Your vehicle is a smoothly operating machine, unless of course your crankshaft and camshaft have gone bad. A faulty crankshaft inhibits the pistons from rotating properly while a damaged camshaft prevents correct opening and closing of the intake and exhaust valves- hindering your ability to drive altogether. The crankshaft and camshaft work together in-sync, so the valves don't contact the pistons, which are all controlled by the timing belt. Overtime, these parts become faulty from wear and tear, and inevitably need to be replaced within the lifetime of your vehicle."

If you had been hit by PTSD in younger years, then more than likely, you have already been to the VA, diagnosed and treated for PTSD. That is great because PTSD stops getting worse when you #TakeBackYourLife and fight to heal. 

If you managed to "stuff it" then you may have been under the delusion you escaped what others did not. It is a huge shocker to find out you did not, especially when you are ready for your "golden years" when you are supposed to be enjoying life.

PTSD symptoms later in life from the VA Many older Veterans find they have PTSD symptoms even 50 or more years after their wartime experience. Some symptoms of PTSD include having nightmares or feeling like you are reliving the event, avoiding situations that remind you of the event, being easily startled, and loss of interest in activities. There are a number of reasons why symptoms of PTSD may increase with age:

Having retired from work may make your symptoms feel worse, because you have more time to think and fewer things to distract you from your memories. 

Having medical problems and feeling like you are not as strong as you used to be also can increase symptoms. 

You may find that bad news on the television and scenes from current wars bring back bad memories. You may have tried in the past to cope with stress by using alcohol or other substances. Then if you stop drinking late in life, without another, healthier way of coping, this can make PTSD symptoms seem worse.

PTSD symptoms can occur soon after a traumatic experience, but this is not always the case. Here are some common symptom patterns:

Some Veterans begin to have PTSD symptoms soon after they return from war. These symptoms may last until older age.

Other Veterans don't have PTSD symptoms until later in life. 

For some Veterans, PTSD symptoms can be high right after their war experience, go down over the years, and then worsen again later in life.

Even with all that, there are many things you need to learn, beginning with the biggest piece of news you need to hear. You can still heal! That's right! It does not matter how many years it has been since you got out of the military. Your life can still get so much better when you work on your life instead of working your life away.


Yesterday I went out to Rock and Brews for a car show. Love to see all the old cars I grew up with. These old cars were selected to be lovingly restored instead of ending up in a junk yard.

You can be lovingly restored too! 

Got to love the sense of humor some people have!

Who said you were beyond repair?

PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone

Your ride may be getting old, but it is far from ready for the junk yard. Most people value antiques and if you are a senior veteran, that is a great way to look at what comes with age.

You have a lot of miles on your spare tires. Your shock absorbers may be a little worn out. You may need some body work. The truth is, you survived all of the events that put miles on your ride. A lot of them were bad but more of them were good times.

You may be thinking it is time to just trade your vehicle in but there is a lot to be said for something that survived that long.

That vehicle you live in is not ready for the junk yard! Just like when there is something wrong with the vehicle you drive, you take it to the repair shop, you need to take you to the repair shop too!

Friday at Lake Nona VA, they had a lot of experts ready to help you navigate the road from where you are to where you want to go. It was Suicide Prevention day.

It is not about what you may have heard but just like when some people were saying the world was flat and you were going to fall off if you went too far, it was not true. The VA is not your enemy!

Actually, personally, I blame CCC (Congress Caused Clusterfluke) and yes, you know what I mean right there.

There are a lot of things the VA is doing that you may not have even imaged. There is a Chapel that is open right near the Memorial walkway.

I know that as time goes by, it is easy to think that nothing is going to get better for you. It won't if you do absolutely nothing but sit there and complain about how bad it is.

Don't let stuff drive you crazy when you could be driving in the right direction.