PTSD Patrol GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
November 6, 2020

These are really stressful times. Between the pandemic and not knowing who are next president will be, or what else will happen in this year from hell, I needed a break. I took the day off to spend some time with friends and had a great time. Which is why the feature video today is, Girls Just Want To Have Fun" from Cyndi Lauper.

Aside from everything else, the extra stress of the election has me getting too little sleep. I am a news geek, so I am up late at night followed by getting up way too early. I know that I cannot control what other people do, or what they think, and that is frustrating. I can only control what I do and how I think.

The same applies to you. You control what you think and what you do. No one else has the power unless you give it to them.

When you have PTSD, you have a choice to make. If you are willing to settle for suffering, then you have already predicted your future. If you decide there a better way to live, then you just opened the door to possibilities. It will take a lot of work and that can be stressful at times. This is why you do need some time to just have fun...enjoy being alive!

I come home in the morning light

My mother says, "When you gonna live your life right?"

Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones

And girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just want to have fun

The phone rings in the middle of the night

My father yells, "What you gonna do with your life?"

Oh daddy dear, you know you're still number one

But girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just want to have

That's all they really want

Some fun

When the working day is done

Oh girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just wanna have fun (girls, they wanna, wanna have fun, girls wanna have)

Some boys take a beautiful girl

And hide her away from the rest of the world

I want to be the one to walk in the sun

Oh girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just wanna have

That's all they really want

Some fun

When the working day is done

Oh girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just want to have fun (girls, they wanna, wanna have fun, girls wanna have)

They just wanna, they just wanna (girls)

They just wanna, they just wanna, oh girl (girls just wanna have fun)

Girls just wanna have fun

They just wanna, they just wanna

They just wanna, they just wanna (girls)

They just wanna, they just wanna, oh girl (girls just wanna have fun)

Girls just want to have fun

When the working

When the working day is done

Oh when the working day is done, oh girls

Girls, they wanna have fun, everybody

They just wanna, they just wanna (girls)

They just wanna, they just wanna, oh girls (girls just wanna have fun)

Girls just want to have fun

when the working

When the working day is done (they just wanna, they just wanna)

Oh when the working day is done, oh girl (girls just wanna have fun)

Girls just wanna have fun (they just wanna, they just wanna)

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Robert Hazard

Girls Just Want To Have Fun lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC 

PTSD Patrol You're Still You

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 30, 2020

"Through the darkness I can see your light." Did you know that the origins of that inner light are all still within you? You may think that the darkness you're been living with since PTSD moved in, is something you will never escape and it killed off everything that was good inside of you, but it is all still there.

Today the feature video is Josh Groban You're Still You because that is a message that anyone with PTSD needs to hear. It is something that I told my husband at least a thousand times over the years. He thought it had all died until he started to heal and was able to see himself again.

I often think about why so many events in my own life did not cause the same level of damage in me that he was going through. Mine began when I was so young that it ended up making me even more connected to who I was inside. There were so many times when I allowed myself to be beaten down by what others thought about me, until I noticed that the only power they had over me, was what I was willing to give them. I was still me...only stronger because of it, so I knew he was still him behind that wall of pain he had been building over the years.

All the things that made you "you" are all still there too. You just need some help finding yourself again.

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Through the darkness

I can see your light

And you will always shine

And I can feel your heart in mine

Your face I've memorized

I idolize just you

I look up to

Everything you are

In my eyes you do no wrong

I've loved you for so long

And after all is said and done

You're still you

After all

You're still you

You walk past me

I can feel your pain

Time changes everything

One truth always stays the same

You're still you

After all

You're still you

I look up to

Everything you are

In my eyes you do no wrong

And I believe in you

Although you never asked me to

I will remember you

And what life put you through

And in this cruel and lonely world

I found one love

You're still you

After all

You're still you

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Ennio Morricone / Linda Thompson 

PTSD Patrol Tucson Train

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 3, 2020

Today the feature video is Bruce Springsteen Tucson Train. It is about a relationship that fell apart but they were getting back together again. Believe it or not, but a lot of relationships that were destroyed by PTSD, were put back together again! Once the survivor got help to heal, and the people that mattered to them understood what went wrong, they stopped trying to blame one another and started to support each other! Fabulous results happen all the time.

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Tucson Train

I got so down and out in 'Frisco

Tired of the pills and the rain

I picked up, headed for the sunshine

I left a good thing behind

Seemed all of our love was in vain

My baby's coming in on the Tucson train

I come here looking for a new life

One I wouldn't have to explain

To that voice that keeps me awake at night

When a little peace would make everything right

If I could just turn off my brain

Now my baby's coming in on the Tucson train

We fought hard over nothing

We fought 'til nothing remained

I've carried that nothing for a long time

Now I carry my operator's license

And spend my days just running this crane

My baby's coming in on the Tucson train

Hard work'll clear your mind and body

The hard sun will burn out the pain

If they're looking for me, tell 'em buddy

I'm waiting down at the station

Just praying to the five-fifteen

I'll wait all God's creation

Just to show her a man can change

Now my baby's coming in on the Tucson train

On the Tucson train

On the Tucson train

Waiting on the five-fifteen

Here she comes

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen

Tucson Train lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group 

PTSD Patrol "everyday it seems a little stronger"

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

October 1, 2020

Yesterday was my 36th wedding anniversary! Today's feature video is James Taylor's "Everyday" because it reflects all the changes we have gone through over all these years. 

Some thought it wouldn't last, including a lot of years when we also thought it was impossible. Any marriage is hard but when you add in PTSD, along with everything else that comes with it, too many marriages fall apart. It is like living on a rollercoaster!

You can read about most of it in the book I wrote a long time ago, FOR THE LOVE OF JACK, HIS WAR/MY BATTLE but for now, know that nothing is impossible when you know and love one another.

Everyday, it's getting closer,

Going faster than a roller coaster.

A love like yours would surely come my way.

Everyday, seems a little faster,

All my friends, they say go on up and ask her.

A love like yours would surely come my way.

Everyday it seems a little stronger,

Everyday it lasts a little longer.

Come what may, do you ever long for

True love from me?

Everyday seems a little closer,

Going faster than a roller coaster.

A love like yours would surely come my way.

A love like yours would surely come my way, Everyday.

Everyday it seems a little stronger,

Everyday it lasts a little longer.

Come what may, do you ever long for

True love from me?

Like I long from you baby.

Everyday seems a little closer,

Going faster than a roller coaster.

A love like yours would surely come my way.

Written by: Buddy Holly, Norman Petty

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing 

PTSD Patrol "But the fighter still remains"

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

September 20, 2020

(Still sick so no video from me today....but you probably need a break from seeing me.)

Simon and Garfunkel THE BOXER is an iconic song of survival! "In the clearing stands a boxer, And a fighter by his trade, And he carries the reminders, Of every glove that laid him down, Or cut him 'til he cried out, In his anger and his shame, 'I am leaving, I am leaving,' But the fighter still remains"

If you have PTSD, then you are a fighter too, not by "trade" or by choice, but by will to live. To not give into something because fighting it is hard. You fight a good match but sometimes you need a tag team to take this opponent on. The thing is, no one ever won anything by themselves. No wars were ever fought by one person. No discoveries were ever made by one person with no one to help them or support them. Inspirations never came from thin air. 

Having a team to help you does not mean they have to have all the answers or even know how to find them. It means they do the best they can to help you learn what you need to, find what you are searching for, and stand by you until the fighter that still remains is strong enough to take on this match too!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

The Boxer

I am just a poor boy

Though my story's seldom told

I have squandered my resistance

For a pocket full of mumbles

Such are promises

All lies and jests

Still a man hears what he wants to hear

And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family

I was no more than a boy

In the company of strangers

In the quiet of the railway station

Running scared

Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters

Where the ragged people go

Looking for the places

Only they would know

Lie la lie, lie la la la lie la lie, lie la lie

Lie la la la lie la lie, la la la la lie

Asking only workman's wages

I come looking for a job

But I get no offers

Just a come-on from the whores

On Seventh Avenue

I do declare

There were times when I was so lonesome

I took some comfort there

La la la la la la la

Lie la lie, lie la la la lie la lie, lie la lie

Lie la la la lie la lie, la la la la lie

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes

And wishing I was gone

Going home

Where the New York City winters

Aren't bleeding me

Leading me

Going home

In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders

Of every glove that laid him down

Or cut him 'til he cried out

In his anger and his shame

"I am leaving, I am leaving"

But the fighter still remains

Lie la lie, lie la la la lie la lie, lie la lie....... 

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Paul Simon

The Boxer lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group 

James Taylor and Alison Krauss pay tribute to Paul Simon at the 2002 Kennedy Centre Honours tribute to Paul Simon.

PTSD Patrol You've Got The Power----to heal!

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

September 15, 2020

Today the featured video is a bit different. If is from the movie Bruce Almighty when God gave him the power to do all kinds of things. When you survive whatever caused your #PTSD, you have the power to heal as a survivor already inside of you. The very fact you are watching these videos means you have the power of hope already and that is the start of living a happier life.

Just imagine that you are Bruce and God knew that you would use your power for good eventually. Want to change the world? Then start with yourself and spread the message of healing to others, so they can change the world too! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

It may not be easy....but it can happen if you believe!

PTSD Patrol The Journey Home

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

September 7, 2020

When you hear the expression, "You can't go home again," what does that mean to you? To me, it means that you cannot go back to what you knew before, because nothing stays the same.

There are times I wish I could go back and talk to a younger me to give me comfort and assurance that everything was going to be OK, but I took "her" with me instead.

How comforting would that be if you could go back to let yourself know that whenever you were hurt or afraid, that by some miracle, a future you could show up and explain that?

Well, you are able to do that right now. Not for yourself, but for others on their own journey toward a happier life. You are the "older" them because you were where they are and can give them comfort that the "wheel in the sky keeps turning" and the unknown doesn't have to be as scary as they think it is.

You remember what that was like but now you know what it is like to #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Wheel In The Sky

Journey 

Winter is here again, oh lord

Haven't been home in a year or more

I hope she holds on a little longer

Sent a letter on a long summer day

Made of silver, not of clay

Ooh, I've been running down this dusty road 

Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turning

I don't know where I'll be tomorrow

Wheel in the sky keeps on turning 

I've been trying to make it home

Got to make it before too long

Ooh, I can't take this very much longer, no

I'm standing in the sleet and rain

Don't think I'm ever gonna make it home again

The morning sun is rising

It's kissing the day 

Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turning

I don't know where I'll be tomorrow

Wheel in the sky keeps on turning

Whoa, whoa, whoa

My, my, my, my, my

For Tomorrow 

Genius Lyrics 

PTSD Patrol Sing Your Victory Song!

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

September 6, 2020

Yesterday I had a mental health day and we went to a lake in Maine to spend some time with friends. I needed it! It will happen from time to time. 

This morning my buddy Gunny sent me a text with a couple  of song suggestions and when I saw this one, it fit perfectly for the way I was feeling.

That is why today's featured video is the Eagles I'm Already Gone, because I said that to depression yesterday and it is fitting when you are healing PTSD....now you can say that too with "I'm feeling strong and I will sing this victory song!" #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Now, you can think of this as a goodbye song to a person or take a lot of parts of it and substitute it with PTSD!

"I'm already gone....feeling strong!"

Lyrics

Well, I heard some people talkin' just the other day

And they said you were gonna put me on a shelf

But let me tell you I got some news for you

And you'll soon find out it's true

And then you'll have to eat your lunch all by yourself

'Cause I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song

Woo hoo hoo, my my, woo hoo hoo

The letter that you wrote me made me stop and wonder why

But I guess you felt like you had to set things right

Just remember this, my girl, when you look up in the sky

You can see the stars and still not see the light (that's right)

And I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song

Woo hoo hoo, my my, woo hoo hoo

Well, I know it wasn't you who held me down

Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains

And we never even know we have the key

But me, I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song

'Cause I'm already gone

Yes, I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song

'Cause I'm already gone

Yes, I'm already gone

Already gone

All right, nighty-night

Already gone

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Jack Tempchin / Robert Arnold Strandlund

Already Gone lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc 

PTSD Patrol oh happier ride

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 29, 2020

Imagine being on a better road than you are on right now. Taking a new road toward a happier life instead of being stuck on a lonely, bumpy road. 

You can have a happier ride if you are ready to get off the familiar road and onto the road you traveled less thus far.

The song Oh Happy Day from Sister Act 2 is one of my favorites because it shows the transformation from being afraid to rejoicing and it feels like that when you heal. That is why it is the featured video on ptsdpatrol.com today. Imagine your life changing like that! It can and you can start to rejoice as a survivor! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Oh happy day (oh happy day)

Oh happy day (oh happy day)

When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)

When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)

When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)

He washed my sins away (oh happy day)

Oh happy day (oh happy day)

He taught me how to watch, fight and pray, fight and pray

And live rejoicing every, everyday

Oh happy day

He taught me how

Oh happy day (oh happy day)

Oh happy day (oh happy day)

Oh happy day (oh happy day)

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Edwin Hawkins

Oh Happy Day lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

PTSD Patrol Life Lift Living For Love

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 24, 2020

The feature video today is Donna Summer I Will Live For Love 💘 and I used this song years ago to give members of the military encouragement to help the heal. Best reason in the world to heal is for those you love. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Eight years ago, I used I Will Live For Love for a PTSD anti-suicide video for members of the military. They forgot how many reasons they do have to live for those they love. After all, others meant so much to them they were willing to die for them, the least they could do is heal for them.

I Will Live For Love

Lyrics

I never needed someone

''cause I always led a life of my own

Never waited for the ring of the 'phone

Never had anyone here

When I got home

But love's about to change my heart

I'm waiting for the doorbell to chime

When I always lived one day at a time

I thought that I was getting on fine

Never felt I was alone
'til you change your mind

Love's about to change my heart

Could a day be so long

When I always felt secure and so strong

And all the time as I went along

Never thought I would desire

So much to belong

Love's about to change my heart

Love's about to change my heart, ooh

Never ever thought the sky was so blue

Never ever thought I'd feel so new

Always thought I'd know what to do

But I guess I wasn't counting on you

What did I know

I always felt so much on control

I thought I'd make it all on my own

Never thought I would forget

All I have known

Love's about to change my heart

Love's about to change my heart

Love's about to change, change, change

My heart...

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Aitken / Stock / Waterman

Love’s About to Change My Heart lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. 

PTSD Patrol Standing By You on the Road

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 23, 2020

How much better do you feel on a hot day, after a rain storm comes through and cools things off? I love it when there is a sun shower ending the storm. That is the way it feels when you are in your own storm and someone says, "You are not alone" and you know that things just changed.

The featured video today is "Stand By Me" and there were 2 versions of it. I hope they remind you that fear does not have to be part of your life when you have someone standing by you.

That is what is happening all over the country as more and more people reach out to let you know they survived with the help of someone else, and so can you!

PRINCE ROYCE - Stand By Me 2011

And Ben E King

PTSD Patrol: Not Giving Up

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 18, 2020

Last night I was watching the DNC convention and I was reminded of things I had forgotten about Joe Biden. He suffered a lot in his life, but instead of being limited by the pain he knew all too well, he decided to use that pain to help others heal too.

This isn't political but it is about as inspirational as it gets.

(ABC News 2012)

Vice President Joe Biden today delivered a deeply personal and, at times, emotional address to survivors of slain U.S. military service members, recounting his struggle with intense grief after his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident almost 40 years ago.

"For the first time in my life, I understood how someone could consciously decide to commit suicide," Biden told a Washington gathering organized by the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a non-profit advocacy group, to commemorate Memorial Day.

"Not because they were deranged, not because they were nuts, because they'd been to the top of the mountain and they just knew in their heart they'd never get there again, that it was … never going to be that way ever again. That's how an awful lot of you feel."

Biden described how he first learned of the accident on Dec. 18, 1972, just weeks after he was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware. While he was in Washington, D.C., his wife, Neilia, one-year-old daughter, Naomi, and sons, Beau and Hunter, were Christmas shopping in Hockessin, Del. Their car was struck by a tractor-trailer. Only Beau and Hunter survived. 

"There will come a day, I promise you, and your parents, as well, when the thought of your son or daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye," he said. "It will happen. My prayer for you is that day will come sooner or later. But the only thing I have more experience than you in is this: I'm telling you it will come."  

Vice president opens up about past grief and thoughts of suicide.

PTSD Patrol: Til It Happens To You

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August  15, 2020

We know about PTSD because people came out and broke the silence. We know we are not alone because it happened to someone before it happened to us. We know we are not alone because others had the courage to tell us.

We also know that we have the power to take back our lives after surviving trauma because people like Lady Gaga understood the value she was proving to others....

The featured video today is by Lady Gaga who has PTSD from sexual abuse. It is hard to watch but when you think about how we learn about something that happens to others we also learn that no one is alone. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from PTSD

New York (CNN)Lady Gaga made a powerful announcement to a group of young LGBT people in New York -- she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. Gaga revealed that she suffers from the debilitating mental illness at Harlem's Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth on November 25. The taped segment aired on NBC's "Today" show Friday. She visited the center as part of a collaboration between her foundation, Born This Way, and the NBC morning show. She brought along clothing, gifts and donuts. (CNN)

Lady Gaga - Til It Happens To You (Official Music Video)

PTSD Patrol decide to heal and live for love

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 13, 2020

According to the Department of Defense, there has been an average of at least 500 members of the Active Duty and Reserve members of the National Guard and Reserves since 2012.

As bad as that is, when you consider that they have been trained in Suicide Prevention, you feel the sense of dread for not just them, but for everyone.

These men and women valued life so much, they were willing to sacrifice everything, including their own lives, to save others, yet when they needed to save themselves, they did not find the support or help to do it. 

I would love to have a long talk with their leaders, considering PTSD was researched since Vietnam veterans came home, and we've known exactly how to do it, but they will not listen to anyone who can change the outcome in a positive way.

What does that say to the rest of the over 8 million Americans with PTSD? How are we supposed to take what they say seriously when the outcome has been this devastating and prolonged for this long?

What makes it worse is that there are thousands of groups out there claiming to be about addressing the problem of suicides in the military and the veterans' community, and more join them but as their finances go up, so does the death count.

If you are in the military, or a veteran, or anyone else who thinks you no longer have a reason to live, consider the message this video gives and decide to heal and live for love.

For those I love I will sacrifice

Until we manage to get this message across to them, there isn't much hope the rest of us will hear it!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Coming home after combat should not be more dangerous but it is. Too many veterans committed suicide today. Be alive today to heal tomorrow. You served because you loved this country and those you served with. Live for love now! UPDATE This was uploaded on 1-2-2012, long before the reports became headline news. The number back then was 18 a day. Goes to show how little has changed and how all the talk about "raising awareness" has been a lot of stunts and very little progress.

Alive Day

PTSD Patrol: It is like "Katniss going into the Hunger Games"

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 12, 2020

Today's feature video is Janet Seahorn, Ph.D talking about what PTSD is with a personal connection to it...her Vietnam Veteran husband and living with PTSD.

Knowing what that is like, it is with pleasure I listened to this. All too often when we are a family member, we feel alone, as if there is no help for us. I used to feel that way for a long time.

In researching it I discovered years ago, I very well could have ended up with raging PTSD from being a survivor of over ten events. The more I understood my husband, the more I understood how important it was to #takebackyourlife because I did and he is too!

Today's feature video is Janet Seahorn PhD who is also married to a Vietnam VET. She covers what PTSD is for everyone including those who live with them. It is educational and comforting, plus she shows her sense of humor with "I feel like Katniss going into the Hunger Games."

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

"I feel like Katniss going into the Hunger Games!"
Janet Seahorn

Understanding PTSD's Effects on Brain, Body, and Emotions | Janet Seahorn

PTSD disrupts the lives of average individuals as well as combat veterans who have served their country. The person experiencing the trauma often then impacts the lives of his/her family, friends, and workplaces. PTSD does not distinguish between race, age or gender and often goes undiagnosed. Even with proper diagnosis, many individuals do not know where to turn to get help. Society needs to understand the aftermath of trauma especially combat trauma and how to prepare for warriors when they return home.

PTSD Patrol Moving Forward

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 10, 2020

Today the inspiration video is this one. I was on Work Ready New Hampshire Facebook page and left a comment that because of this program I finally started my own business. It gave me the support and encouragement to try it. I will have more on this later, but sometimes you just need someone to believe in you to get you on your way!

I believe in you and how much happier you will be when you drive away from #PTSD

Work Ready New Hampshire

That is what I try to do everyday because I know how wonderful it felt when someone did it for me! It will feel wonderful for you too when you find what you need to move forward away from what PTSD is doing to you. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

PTSD Patrol claiming your power

PTSD Patrol 

Kathie Costos

August 7, 2020

When I was growing up, my Mom said the surest way to get me to do something, was telling me I couldn't. I am still that way. It was almost as if I was always willing to accept the challenge. Even now, I enjoy trying. My Mom gave up on a lot of things with me...but never gave up on me.

Some people have a place of power in our lives, like our family and close friends. Others, who really don't know us only have what we give them but we forget that. 

About 20 years ago, I ran into someone I went to high school with. He wanted to apologize for the way he treated me. For some reason, whatever it was, bothered him for 20 years, but I laughed because I didn't have a clue what the hell he was talking about. I told him that whatever he thought he did to me, he didn't.

That is what happens when we stop letting people have power over us, or think what they think of us matters, when they do not really matter in our lives.

No one has power over us unless we give it to them. Fear of failure has no power unless we let it stop us from trying. Nothing that happened in the past has the power unless we fear using our strength as a survivor and take back control of our lives. When you realize that, your life is about to get a lot happier! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Patty Chang Anker is the author of SOME NERVE: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave and the blogger behind Facing Forty Upside Down, for which she was named a Good Housekeeping Blogger We Love and voted a "Top 25 Funny Mom" at Circle of Moms. Anker is currently blogging on the issue of anxiety for Psychology Today.com and her work has appeared in O magazine and Marie Claire.
After a lifetime of living nowhere near the edge (hello, fear of failure!), she realized her comfort zone had shrunk to the size of her tush on the bench from which she cheered her children. When she started saying yes to things that scared her she discovered what it feels like to be truly alive. Some Nerve is the result of four years of facing her fears and inspiring others to face theirs. For the sake of the TEDx talk she thankfully does not have a fear of public speaking. But she does still have a fear of clowns.

PTSD Patrol: Survivors take control of the road ahead

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 3, 2020

"Linda is an extraordinary survivor" stated in the beginning of the article with this video. That is a point that everyone needs to remember. While the event tried to destroy you, it did not. You survived!

The question is, what do you do as a survivor? Do you let it change who you are inside? Then it continues to destroy you. Do you fight to take back your life as hard as you did to keep it during the event? If you do, then you win again!

What kind of a survivor do you want to be?

 

This is a clip from the DVD, Surviving Trauma and Tragedy: Lessons For Future Physicians and Mental Health. Linda is an extraordinary survivor of an abduction and sexual assault after grocery shopping for her family. She is speaking before the Class of 2007, College of Human Medicine, at MSU. She discusses the details of her personal traumatic events that led to her being diagnosed with PTSD. Linda, a member of the Michigan Victim's Alliance, and has a deep commitment to helping other survivors. Her story will help future health professionals realize how important doctors, nurses and members of the medical team can be in the diagnostic and recovery process for survivors of extreme trauma.

PTSD Patrol: only forces of light get you out of dark places

PTSD Patrol

Kathie Costos

August 2, 2020

"Why do some.....overcome?" That is the question Charles Hunt asks in this featured video today.

He is talking about how important it is to choose how we respond to things to what happens.

I could dwell on things I had to go through, but I choose to use them to help me understand other people. I use them to help me help them find hope that they can heal too.

Above all of that, I choose to not let anyone stop me because of what they decide to do with their own power.

Who are you letting stop you from becoming all you can be? Who are you letting get in your way instead of walking away from their negativity?

No one can control you but you!

When you help someone else it feels wonderful but when you need help and they walk away from you, it hurts 💔 Do not give forces of darkness power over you. Seek forces of light to get you out of the dark place you are in. #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

As the founder of The Audacity Firm, LLC, his firm provides professional and personal development programs, coaching, and events to equip clients with financial literacy/education, workforce readiness, professional development, and career planning tips, tools, and strategies to LIVE, DO, and BE BETTER.

PTSD Patrol: Survivor clings to anchor

PTSD Patrol 

Kathie Costos 

July 31, 2020 

Reminder, part of a series with inspirational videos on healing as a survivor

Today I'm putting up a great video about a survivor of a boating accident and if nothing else, learn that you can be happier than others who never experienced trauma. "What trauma taught me about happiness" Lindsey Roy TEDxKC is the video I am sharing today because as a survivor, I think she summed it up perfectly! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

"Why are trauma survivors happier, on average, than lottery winners?" Lindsey Roy

"It is easier to be negative."

Why are trauma survivors happier, on average, than lottery winners? During her recovery from a devastating accident, Lindsey Roy developed ideas and ways of coping that suggest an answer to that question. Learn about her specific methods for overcoming the brain's natural negativity bias, letting go of past expectations, and connecting to a deeper self in the here and now. Lindsey Roy is a brilliant storyteller with a captivating story. A tragic boating accident while on vacation almost claimed Lindsey’s life and left her with an amputated left leg, severely injured right leg and injured right arm. Through a challenging recovery process, Lindsey learned impactful lessons on how to harness disruption and find clarity in the chaos.