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!

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!

A former police officer says not enough first responders are asking for help

Retired police officer attempted suicide twice, now urges mental health counseling for first responders

WTSP News
Author: Thuy Lan Nguyen
February 27, 2020

He says the stigma of seeking help for mental health counseling is one of the biggest issues. "Don't look down upon our brothers and sisters who have committed suicide. In my opinion, it's a line of duty death, just like if an officer responded to a bank robbery and unfortunately got shot. It's still a line of duty death," said DiBona.

TAMPA, Fla. — Mark DiBona has more than three decades of service in law enforcement under his belt. The stress of his job pushed him into a spiral.

"I went through some very difficult times where I attempted suicide twice on the same day. I felt really alone and didn't know how to seek help," said DiBona. He shares his story openly, hoping other first responders learn from his struggles. He's now a board member for an organization called Blue H.E.L.P.

read it here

Bill was an owl who taught crickets to scream with the truth that empowered the defeat PTSD

Crickets found microphones to share good news you can use. You can heal PTSD!

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 29, 2019


If you think that what you have heard about veterans committing suicide is useful information, think again. The only ones benefiting from it are the people raising funds for doing it. Everyone else is being reminded that others have given up, instead of learning how to fight back.

The help they needed to heal has been available for almost 4 decades, but the noise on social media is all about raising awareness that veterans are committing suicide while passing around a fictions number as if it is supposed to mean something. The only number that really means anything is the ONE who could not be reached in time to save them. 

LADY MACBETH "I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did not you speak?"

Time for more owls to teach crickets how to scream!

Cricket

With my work on PTSD, it usually comes up at the strangest times. When I was with my family for Christmas, we got into a conversation about when my ex-husband tried to kill me. Not a very pleasant subject for what was supposed to be a joyous day, but it turned out to be a lesson on healing.

When the police took my ex out of the apartment somehow I knew it was just the beginning of a nightmare. Shock wore off and I went into survivor mode fully prepared to fight whatever he had in mind.

I had nightmares and flashbacks, mood swings and everything else that goes with surviving traumatic events like that. The thing that I could not overcome was paranoia.

My ex always drove muscle cars. I used to love that sound but it became torturous.It is the sound I heard when he violated the restraining order. It is the sound I heard when he would follow me on the road. It is the sound that caused panic whenever I heard it coming from another car.

While we lived in the same city, it happened a lot. I got used to the response my body had being fed from primal need to take flight or stand and fight. What I was not prepared for was when my current husband and I moved to Florida, about 1500 miles away from my ex.

No matter where I was, when I heard the sound of a muscle car, it all came back. That spirit crushing sound was a little easier to overcome, but it was still there. It was not until my cousin sent me his obituary notice from the local paper that I started to enjoy the sound of engines again. It all lasted close to 30 years.

Sure, there were many other times when I survived and went through the signs of PTSD, but with work, I overcame them because the "thing" that could have killed me, was fought by a survivor and not a victim, head on with everything I had to fight with. My strongest weapon was my faith in God and what He put within my soul.

"...to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:12-16

Life experience is why I understood my veteran husband, even though I never went into combat with the same type of enemy. He understood what events in my life did to me, because we were fighting the same type of battles with totally different outcomes.

It had been over a decade before we met and even longer before he started to get help for his PTSD, but he did and we are living a better quality of life than we could have had we surrendered what could be to what had been before.

The only power anything has over us, is what we allow it to have. No matter what you have done up to this point in time, you have the power to decide what you will do in response to everything. Do you surrender as a victim of something that was not in your control, or do you fight back with everything you have as a victorious survivor?

Begin with changing your attitude toward PTSD. The term itself is empowering. 

Post means AFTER it happened. You are still here, so you are a survivor.

Trauma is Greek for WOUND. You did not to it to yourself but you were injured by it.

Stress comes from surviving it and things change because of what you went through.

Disorder means that things inside of you get messed up for a time, but with work, you put things back in a different order as a survivor. 

With the right help, you can become even stronger than you were before. 

I had to learn with life experience, clinical books and a dictionary while sitting in uncomfortable library chairs written by researchers long before I heard the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that was 38 years ago for me.

Over on the other side of the country, Point Man started in 1984 to address the needs of veterans, along with their families. The kicker here is, it started by a Vietnam veteran...Seattle Police Officer, who understood that healing had to include knowledge of the mind, body and spiritual battles that had to be won.

If you are a member of law enforcement, keep this in mind. Officer Bill Landreth experienced combat, and then risking his life as a police officer, but he also understood what was necessary to heal from experiences as a survivor by addressing his needs as a human. He shared his wisdom willingly and freely, expecting nothing back other than joy of seeing someone overcome their own experiences.

All these years later, others have come forward in quiet ways, working side by side with those in need. Bill was an owl who taught crickets to scream with the truth that empowered the defeat PTSD. 

If you need support call 1-800-877-8387.

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!

Built in shock absorbers wear down over time

Shock Absorbers Surround You!
PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone
Kathie Costos
August 26, 2018

When we got the idea to turn PTSD Patrol into something related to vehicles, it was odd, to say the least. Once explained that people understand the vehicle they drive a lot more than the vehicle they live in, it only made sense to do it this way.

There are a lot of automotive parts that can be used to explain the vehicle you live in. Your body is your ride and we are all different but the stuff that makes it work can be linked to the stuff that goes into the vehicle you drive.

If you took a job to save others, you took on a lot more than most people have to deal with on a daily basis. That is why there are over 7 million citizens with PTSD, and you helped most of them survive.

If lives of strangers meant that much to you, then don't you think they matter to those you serve with? Ok, then why don't you get that your buddies would want to save you too?

Read about shock absorbers From Firestone

HOW DO STRUTS AND SHOCKS WORK?

The suspension on your car is made up of many components, including a set of springs that absorb bumps and road impact, a set of struts that support your springs, and a set of shocks (short for shock absorbers) that limit the bounce your car experiences by absorbing residual movement in suspension springs.

Without properly maintained struts and shocks an unexpected pothole, or even a gravel road, can actually cause the wheels of a vehicle to bounce off of the ground, which can easily lead to loss of control and collision.

REPLACE SHOCKS AND STRUTS ON YOUR VEHICLE

Since well-maintained shocks and struts critically contribute to the overall safety and stability of your vehicle's steering and suspension, we highly recommend having shocks and struts serviced regularly and well before there is an issue. That said, if you observe any of the following symptoms while you are in your vehicle or looking under the hood, it may mean it has time to bring your vehicle to your local Firestone Complete Auto Care center for service right away:

SHOCK AND STRUT REPLACEMENT SYMPTOMS OBSERVABLE WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE

• Excessive vehicle bouncing
• Nose of the vehicle dips down, especially when coming to a stop
• The vehicle sways and leans when turning corners or changing lanes
• Not enough bounce; the ride seems stiff
• Steering response is poor, or noise is heard when steering
• Feels very unstable at high speeds

PTSD Patrol: Does your radiator cool your engine enough?

Crying keeps your engine cool!
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 6, 2018

We have all heard the saying "men don't cry" but that must have originated from a man who couldn't do it. Think of what he was like. He must have been one nasty individual.

Imagine not being able to cope with strong emotions. Then again, imagine what it must have been like to not be able to release that negative power. His engine must have overheated all the time.

Radiators A radiator is an integral part of your car’s engine coolant system. Its primary task is to keep the engine cool — if the radiator were to malfunction, the pistons would seize up, destroying the engine. In effect, the radiator along with the rest of the cooling system is your personal insurance against a devastating repair bill.

If you have PTSD after doing your job, then there are things you need to know beyond what you imagine.

You may think that others like you do not need to cry. After all, you are so courageous that you were willing to die for the sake of someone else. Right? Why were you willing to do that? Is it because you did not care about any of them?

Would it help to know that one of the most courageous men to walk this earth cried? 

He was feeling such empathy for someone else, he could not control his emotions and he wept.

I am sure by now you know where I am going with this. That man was Jesus. When He was in the garden, knowing His days on earth were coming to an end, He had such and inner struggle going on that when He did not weep, the emotional pressure was so great that his sweat came out as drops of blood.

42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22)

His engine overheated. Now, sure, you can dismiss all of this but then you'd have to dismiss the fact that Jesus knew all along who He was and what He was supposed to do. He also knew when it would happen. 

All His time on earth was spent doing things for others out of love. Some say it did not end well for Him, but they are missing the point that it ended the exact way it was supposed to. Think of how brave He was and then think of how even He cried for someone else.

Jesus could have dismissed the sister of Lazarus, knowing He would restore her brother to the living, but He was overpowered by the love she had for him.

Is there anything that is blocking your engine? Is there any reason you are allowing your engine to heat up instead of cooling off so the rest of your journey goes on?

Bad feelings need to be released so that good can come in again. Unscrew the cap and let the water flow!

Ecclesiastes 3 King James Version (KJV)
3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

I could have edited this video because of a mistake I made, but why pretend I am perfect? In the video I am talking about what is in Ecclesiastes, but I must have had the Birds song on my brain. It turns out that the way this was originally written, it is perfect. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. Stop letting your engine overheat and cool it down.

PTSD Service Stuff Stop Sign

Stop stuffing what your service does to you
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 20, 2018

If you made it your job to serve others, time to deal with it instead of stuffing it.

The only way to prevent PTSD is to stop all wars, crimes, fires, natural disasters and accidents. Think about that for a second. 

Now think about how you decided to make it your job...willingly putting your life on the line because all those things happen to people you don't even know.

Sure, you can understand when one of us has just been through something horrible and dealing with a lot. Why can't you understand when one of your own, or you, has to deal with a lot more because you face more of those times that could kill you?

While it may be difficult for the survivors, it is a lot hard for those we count on to help us become a survivor instead of victims.

Service members (including National Guard and Reservists) law enforcement, firefighters and emergency responders, face the same things the rest of us deal with but piled on top of that "everything else" are all the times you put your lives on the line. Even when you are not in an active situation, you are waiting for the next time. After all, that is what you get paid to do. Isn't it?


What you cannot forget, you stuff it to be able to just get on with your time off the job. The problem is, there is really no time you are totally off the job. You know when you are not on duty, someone else is.

It is what you decided to do with your life. It is what you trained to do. Did they tell you that you would no longer be human? Did they tell you that you were supposed to stop feeling?

Screw that! If you didn't feel anymore, then you wouldn't care anymore and you wouldn't want to do the job that could very well cost you your life!

You had to care deeply about life, or you wouldn't risk yours. That leaves a huge question. Then why don't you care enough about your own life to ask for help when you need it?

PTSD hit 1-out-of-3 Vietnam veterans. Hit 1-out-of-5 OEF and OIF veterans.

Police officers, according to Psychology Today article

There are approximately 900,000 sworn officers in the United States. According to some studies –19% of them may have PTSD. Other studies suggest that approximately 34% suffer symptoms associated with PTSD but do not meet the standards for the full diagnosis.

USA Today did a great report on combat veterans joining the police force afterwards.

• Veterans who work as police are more vulnerable to self-destructive behavior  — alcohol abuse, drug use and, like Thomas, attempted suicide.
• Hiring preferences for former service members that tend to benefit whites disproportionately make it harder to build police forces that reflect and understand diverse communities, some police leaders say.
• Most  law enforcement agencies, because of factors including a culture of machismo and a number of legal restraints, do little or no mental health screening for officers who have returned from military deployment, and they provide little in the way of treatment.

Ok, so now you understand that most of you stuff things instead of actively dealing with them and taking back lives. Now maybe you understand if you happen to be one of them, or one who never went to war, but put your life on the line all the same.

The truth is, suicide is hitting more veterans, police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. There comes a time when you start to see the signs that you should stop trying to stuff it and start doing something beyond getting numb or doing whatever it is that "takes you mind" off what is going on with you. Maybe it is time to fight back?

Maybe instead of accepting the fact you are willing to risk your life for strangers, you accept the fact that you need to start trusting the same people you risked your life with and let them know you need some help.

They would die for you, just as you would die for them. Do you really think they won't take the time to listen to you?

One more thing to consider is, there is nothing weak about someone like you. Actually, it requires you to have a deeper-stronger emotional core than the average citizen. It is also why you got hit harder than others did.

Ready to stop stuffing and start healing?

PTSD Patrol "the direction of your life changes to forward"

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.

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!

PTSD Patrol Putting You in Control Over Your LIfe

I don't know about you but I am sure you're tired of hearing all the doom and gloom about PTSD as if there is nothing to look forward to. After all, right now everyone is talking about raising awareness on suicides, changing nothing about the outcomes for far too many families.

Here you will find ways to change the outcome in your life or the life of someone you love. 

Whatever you thought about PTSD yesterday, today is the day you discovered the most important thing of all. Today is the day you finally become aware of the fact that you will have PTSD the rest of your life but from this day on, you take back control over it instead of giving up.

There are many different causes of PTSD and all humans can get hit by events that are life altering in a bad way. While you are still only human and susceptible to everything else, you are not like everyone else. 

We're going to separate the term from this point on to SPTSD because this is all about PTSD related to your service to others. Military, police, firefighters, emergency responders and anyone on the front lines responding to the events that change everyone else. 

Humans can get hit by one single event, but you made a career out of a face off with death. The odds were stacked against you but you were in possession of somethings lacking in the rest of humanity. Courage and compassion to be willing to die for the sake of someone else.

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

And this is from a Marine veteran talking about how much his life changed in just one year. After he thought he lost everything, including his best friend to suicide, he found what was within him all along and shares a message of hope that you can heal too!

The veteran in the following video did not win his own battle but he was part of a tribute video.



Do you want to heal? It means you need to do a lot of work on yourself, which thinking about yourself is one of the hardest things for you to do. You always came last. Think of it this way, the more you heal the more you can help others needing to do the same.