the oldest pandemic this nation has ever seen

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 22, 2021

Last year I went to the New Hampshire veterans cemetery for the first time on Memorial Day. As I walked around, I thought about all the veterans in my family who passed away, as well as the two veterans I was walking with. My husband and his best friend are both Vietnam veterans.

When I came upon this memorial, I had to catch a couple of tears falling. The empty place where the service member is saluting, got to me.

It was around that time when I was debating about giving up working with veterans. No matter how hard I tried, or how much I knew, it seemed as if I was fighting everyone I knew in the veteran community. Most of them were latched onto the slogan of "22 a day" and wouldn't let go of the notion that suicide awareness was a good thing to do. How could they believe that letting suicidal veterans hear about others giving up would offer them anything but more despair?

It was too late to change their minds and I had been doing this work for too long to be able to deal with the deadly results of ignorance. My heart was being ripped out every time I read another report of another suicide.

No one wanted to hear what needed to be done, anymore than they wanted to hear about the decades of failures to address the oldest pandemic this nation has ever seen...suicides carried out by those who valued the lives of others so much so, they were willing to die to save them.

I got into all of this in 1982 and focused on Vietnam veterans with PTSD, but the truth is, they had only become the latest generation to join the others going back to when this nation began. What I didn't know back then was there would be more wars.

It felt as if I was fighting this one all alone as soon as people started to read news reports in 2012. Soon after that, the awareness groups started popping up and eroding the ability for veterans to find people like me.

And now, maybe you'll understand why I gave up on what I had dedicated my life to almost 4 decades ago.

read more here

While all the "awareness" people were talking about, a number when they didn't even understand the report it came from, I was talking about changing the conversation. This is from an interview I did in 2012.

That was what they needed to hear, but I guess I stopped being good enough to get them to hear me. 

I fought them until last year and then I opened this up to anyone with PTSD. If you are in the military, a veteran, or a member of any of the responder positions, this work is for you too. No matter what caused PTSD in you, you are still only human like the rest of us.

Today the featured video is Neil Diamond, He Ain't Heavy because helping people with PTSD heal should not be a burden for any of us.

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

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Neil Diamond

The road is long with many awaiting turns

That lead us to who knows where,

Who knows where

But I'm strong,

Strong enough to carry him

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

So long we go

His welfare is my concern

No burden is he to bare, we'll get there

For I know

He would not encumber me

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

If Im laden at all,

I I am laden with sadness that

Everyone's heart isn't filled with the gladness

I am alone for one and other

It's so long long road

From which there is no return

While we're on the way to live why not share

And the load doesn't weigh me down at all

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

He's my brother

He ain't heavy

He's my brother

He's my brother

He ain't heavy

He's my brother

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: B. Russell / B. Scott

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother lyrics © Music Sales Corporation, Music Sales Corp. 

Does the person in your life know you love them?

PTSD Patrol and Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 25, 2021

Does the person in your life know you love them? If you have PTSD and you are not talking to them about what is going on with you, then they will think you just don't love them anymore. Today the featured video is Bonnie Raitt, I Can't Make You Love Me because there have been too many conversations from women giving up on their marriages and relationships with veterans.

This can apply to husbands, because we also have to face the fact that there are female veterans too. It can apply to anyone with PTSD in a relationship because you are leaving them to believe you don't love them anymore. What other choice can they make if you won't tell them why you changed?

They can only base what they feel on how you treat them, how you act toward them and how you talk to them. It sucks!

You may be destroying a relationship that is strong enough to last the rest of your life because you won't talk to them or even try to get them to know what is in your heart.

"You can't make your heart feel something it won't," is what they think. I know because I almost gave up on my marriage. I remember driving and this song came on the radio. I'd cry hard enough I had to pull over until I could see better and wiped the tears from my face. I had no way of knowing if there was any love left or not, even though I knew what PTSD was.

What made it harder for me was dealing with what my ex-husband did when he tried to kill me, proving my life didn't matter to him, even though he said the words out of his mouth. My second husband and I have been married for over 36 years now and because he started to make the effort to trust me enough to talk about Vietnam, I was sure that while his actions had nothing to do with me even though it effected me deeply.

It is time to think about the person you share your life with or you won't be doing it much longer.

Morning will come and I'll do what's right

Just give me till then to give up this fight

And I will give up this fight

'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't

You can't make your heart feel something it won't

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

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

I Can’t Make You Love Me

Bonnie Raitt

Turn down the lights

Turn down the bed

Turn down these voices inside my head

Lay down with me

Tell me no lies

Just hold me close, don't patronize

Don't patronize me

'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't

You can't make your heart feel something it won't

Here in the dark, in these final hours

I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power

But you won't, no you won't

'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't

I'll close my eyes, then I won't see

The love you don't feel when you're holding me

Morning will come and I'll do what's right

Just give me till then to give up this fight

And I will give up this fight

'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't

You can't make your heart feel something it won't

Here in the dark, in these final hours

I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power

But you won't, no you won't

'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Michael Reid / Allen Shamblin

I Can’t Make You Love Me lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Amplified Administration 

PTSD Patrol The Voice

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
November 16, 2020

I was reading that more veterans committed suicide and I had to shut down the computer, and walk away. I just couldn't stand it. How can all this still be happening? It is because for all the people out there,like me, for years with the knowledge and experience are not involved in anything they are doing. The people doing the planning are not interested in what works. 

VA PREVENTS

The plan focuses on improved research into veteran suicide, increased suicide-prevention training and new partnerships between government agencies and outside organizations. Some veterans groups and lawmakers have criticized the plan for not being bold enough.

Sherman Gillums, chief advocacy officer for AMVETS, said the impact of PREVENTS so far “hasn’t lived up to expectation.”

“The roadmap for preventing suicide at all levels remains in the abstract, with no real practical application,” he said.

Despite efforts in Washington and continued boosts to VA funding, the rates of veteran suicide have shown no sign of slowing. Between 2005 and 2017, 78,875 veterans took their own lives — more than the number of Americans killed in each major conflict except for World War II and the Civil War.

Anyway, it made me think about a friend of mine who told me one day, he came close to committing suicide the night before. When I asked him why he didn't call me, he said he didn't have to. My voice was already in his head.

What are the voices in your head? Are they filling you with doubts and making you feel worse or are they filling you up with hope and making you feel better?

Today the feature video is Celtic Women The Voice.

Remember it is your life....get in and drive! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

I hear your voice on the wind

And I here you call out my name

"Listen my child, " you say to me

"I am the voice of your history

Be not afraid, come follow me

Answer my call and I'll set you free"

I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain

I am the voice of your hunger and pain

I am the voice that always is calling you

I am the voice, I will remain

I am the voice in the fields when the summer's gone

The dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow

Ne'er do I sleep throughout all the cold winter long

I am the force that in springtime will grow

I am the voice of the past that will always be

Filled with my sorrow and blood in my fields

I am the voice of the future

Bring me your peace

Bring me your peace and my wounds, they will heal

I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain

I am the voice of your hunger and pain

I am the voice that always is calling you

I am the voice

I am the voice in the past that will always be

I am the voice of your hunger and pain

I am the voice of the future

I am the voice

I am the voice

I am the voice

I am the voice

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Brendan Graham

The Voice lyrics © Peermusic Publishing 

Veterans inspired to make miracles in the world!

Miracles after attempted suicides prevented

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 17, 2020

Stories collected from Wounded Times

In 2007, Owen Wilson attempted suicide and it was big news, and spread around the world. At the same time, we were facing 948 attempted active duty suicides, along with 99 who lost their lives. It was also the year when many survivors faced charges. A female reservists was facing charges after she survived. She tired again, and again, she survived. The charges against her were dropped and her story showed that her mental health crisis had been pushed aside by her superiors.

"I Sat around numerous times with a .44 in my mouth. But for some reason, I just couldn't pull the trigger. I don't know why." said a 57 year old veteran who had attempted it three more times.

Not long afterwards reports of veterans attempted suicides had grown more than "patient count" in the VA. The eyeopener in this piece of news was the age groups who topped the numbers from 2000-2007. 20-24 year old attempts went from 11 to 47 per year. 55-59 year old attempts also went up from 19 to 117.

By April of 2008, the reports on attempted suicides were increased to 1,000 per month in the VA system.

And then something amazing started to happen. Veterans were talking about their own pain so that others would understand it is not all doom and gloom. 

Two years later, veterans were trying to do whatever they could to change the outcome and encourage veterans to seek healing instead of suffering. That is what Jeremiah Workman did as the recipient of the Navy Cross.

He went on to write "Shadow of the Sword: A Marine's Journey of War, Heroism, and Redemption"

Chaplains were talking about their own struggles so that others would discover that asking for help is part of healing and part of their faith. After all, Jesus was preaching healing and not going it alone. Not to mention He kept asking for help. If the Son of God was not above asking for help...no one should have a problem with it.

Generals were talking about their own struggles with PTSD.

Medal of Honor recipients did a PSA on seeking help to heal PTSD.

Servicemembers were also doing whatever it took to save anyone in trouble. A sailor on the USS Carl Vinson was driving across a bridge when he saved a suicidal man...on his 60th birthday.

Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor, but after being home, he tried to commit suicide because he felt as if he had become a burden to his family. He broke his silent suffering knowing he could keep saving lives even back home.

Andrew O'Brien decided to end his silence on YouTube after the tried to commit suicide, knowing others may choose to live.

A Navy Captain decided talking about his own attempt at committing suicide would prevent someone from trying it too.

A female veteran, Mary Dague, lost both of her arms serving as a bomb tech in Iraq, but managed to save the life of another veteran across the country.

Within all the bad news out there, we should all do more than take comfort because of all the people trying to make a difference. We need to share their stories so that others are inspired to make miracles in the world!

This world needs more angels like you on this earth!

Veterans rise again tomorrow with hope

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 9, 2020

With the knowledge that suicide awareness has not worked, it is time to change the conversation to what does save lives...the truth!

Suicide awareness groups have raised billions over the years, while the evidence has proven the spread of hopelessness. It is time to spread something to hope for...a life that can be so much better than it is today.

"I saw the angel in the marble
and carved until I set him free."

Michelangelo

It is time for you to carve away the hardness trapping you and be set free from the misery. If you were willing to risk your life for the sake of someone else, this world needs more angels like you on this earth!

Stop trying to conceal the pain you feel. Stop trying to run from it and honor it, so you can release it. If you want to cry, then cry. If you want to scream, then scream. There is no shame in anyone needing to release it. If that pain was caused because you put others ahead of your own life, then there is even more need to honor the pain because it all joined forces against you.

"What is now proved was once only imagined."

William Blake

There was a time when veterans thought there was no hope for them. The scares carried home were beyond healing. Back in the 70's, one veteran after another imagined a time would come when the bonds to others would help break away the painful memories. 

Side by side, they broke their own silence when they saw one of their own suffering. They healed PTSD together.

That is still going on today. You will not find them, if you do not look for them. They cannot help you if they do not know where you are. 

As Michelangelo carved the marble to free the angel, he needed to do more than see it in his own mind. He had to plan how to make the block of marble look like he thought it could become. He had to do the work to create it. He did it!

If you decided to rise up this morning to hope, thank you for being an inspiration of what is possible, because that is exactly what you will become when you help others heal by standing by their side.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

Michelangelo

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.

For those who serve this country, nothing will change if we accept what "is"

We cannot go on accepting things just because others do

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 26, 2019

The Washington Post just put up the last Rolling Thunder Ride in Washington DC.

Seeing the video and pictures put me in a strange mood. Nostalgic for the times I made the trip out there for Memorial Day and the Nam Knights ride on Saturday, the day before Rolling Thunder. I was also angry. 

It should not be acceptable that after all these years, the organizers had to end the ride because they could not find enough money to pay for everything they needed to do.

There are a lot of things that are not acceptable...and one of the biggest reasons why I want to apologize for this video.

I should not have even tried to do a positive video when my head was ready to explode.

This is an apology video because earlier today, I put up the video for PTSD Patrol, that was far from inspirational. I needed to get things out before my head exploded. This is most of the stuff that has me in a very bad mood. It begins with people saying "Happy Memorial Day" because the meaning is about having fun instead of honoring those who risked their lives for this county. The list of other things we find "acceptable" goes on and as long as they do, nothing will really change for those who serve this country~

Change your power source

Plugging into present

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 31, 2019

Tomorrow is April Fools Day, but so far, the joke may have been one you pulled on yourself.

If you have been telling yourself that you are currently worth less than you used to be, then, it has been a cruel joke.

Maybe you told yourself that you have fallen down on the job...or because of your job. Maybe you told yourself about a thousand times that you should just give up and end the misery. Well, you're partly right on that one but not in the way you think.

You should give up on all the negative thinking so that you can end the misery and start to live a happier life. 

How about you unplug from the negativity of yesterday and begin to "plug into the present" possibilities available to you today?

Plug Into The Present is a site about electric cars. They need to have charge stations on the road, especially on long trips, or they run out of power.

You need charge stations too. So far you have been using the wrong power source. Think about it this way. If it was your job to save lives, why would you give up on yours now?

You can take the back seat of your own life and give up...

or you can use your power to take back control of this moment on.

Think about that. Think about how up until now, you have not been thinking enough of the right things. You operated on the negative charge stations instead of the positive change stations.

The lives you saved would not be here to be fighting to take control of their own lives as survivors without you. Have you ever wondered what happened to them? Would you be shocked if they had PTSD? Well, over 7 million Americans have diagnosed PTSD and a lot more are wondering what the hell is going on with their lives.

Now, notice that it only takes one time for PTSD to take over. That's right. Just one event can cause a survivor to be bitten by it. How many times did you expose yourself to traumatic events because you put your own life on the line to save someone else?

Now does it make sense that it has nothing to do with being weak? If not then understand that it actually has more to do with the strongest part of you. It is the same part that compelled you to take action with courageously placing yourself in harms way.

Your courage and training did not mean you stopped being human.

Only Human

Billy Joel

Lyrics

You're having a hard time and lately you don't feel so good

You're getting a bad reputation in your neighborhood

It's alright

It's alright

Sometimes that's what it takes

You're only human

You're allowed to make your share of mistakes

You better believe there will be times in your life

When you'll be feeling like a stumbling fool

So take it from me you'll learn more from your accidents

Than anything that you could ever learn at school

Don't forget your second wind

Sooner or' later you'll get your second wind

It's not always easy to be living in this world of pain

You're gonna be crashing into stone walls again and again

It's alright

It's alright

Though you feel your heart break

You're only human

You're gonna have to deal with heartache

Just like a boxer in a title fight

You got to walk in that ring all alone

You're not the only one who's made mistakes

But they're the only thing that you can truly call your own

Don't forget your second wind

Wait in that corner until that breeze blows in

You've been keeping to yourself these days

'Cause you're thinking everything's gone wrong

Sometimes you just want to lay down and die

That emotion can be so strong

But hold on

Till that old second wind comes along

You probably don't want to hear advice from someone else

But I wouldn't be telling you if I hadn't been there myself

It's alright

It's alright

Sometimes that's all it takes

We're only human

We're supposed to make mistakes

But I survived all those long lonely days

When it seemed I did not have a friend

'Cause all I needed was a little faith

So I could catch my breath and face the world again

Don't forget your second wind

Sooner or later you'll feel that momentum kick in

Don't forget your second wind

Sooner or later you'll feel that momentum kick in

Songwriters: Billy Joel You're Only Human (Second Wind) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

So how about you #BreakTheSilence and "plug into the present" so that you can #TakeBackYourLife heal and then, help others find their way too?

Wounded Forgotten Warrior Project

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
and PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 9, 2019

(With two events this weekend I am cross posting this one on both sites.)

I wanted to show what it is like driving into work at 5:00 am with very little traffic on the road. Much like when I got into working on PTSD back in 1982, the road was paved by others out there long before I even heard the term.

Vietnam veterans are responsible for everything we know about what trauma does. It is not that others never experienced it, but they were the ones who did something about it.

During the filming of the video, the commercial for Wounded Warrior Project came on and I lost my mind. It came on right after I ran down the things that have been forgotten, including the fabulous work done on the Forgotten Warrior Project. It told their stories to stop them from suffering in silence.

They are the wounded forgotten warriors! Their project was to heal their generations and all others who came before them and for those they knew would come after them.

In the video you will hear about IFOC, Nam Knights and Point Man International Ministries. 

I trained with the IFOC. I am a Lady of the Knight with the Nam Knights. I am Florida state coordinator of Point Man. So yes, I believe in them and what we do!

Please look them up if you want to know about about fabulous efforts to do real peer support.

Consider this one as the Heaven sent air filter!

PTSD Patrol: Owners Manual and Your Air Filter
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 14, 2018

The owner's manual frustrates me! I was looking up how to check the air filter. Sure enough, I found the page to tell me what to do with it, but it DID NOT TELL ME WHERE THE HECK TO FIND IT!

CARS.COM — The cabin air filter, a feature found on most late-model vehicles, cleans the air that comes into the interior through the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. It catches dust, pollen and other airborne material that can make riding in a car unpleasant, particularly if you have allergies or other respiratory problems.

Some signs that you need a new cabin air filter are reduced air flow through your climate control system, such as when you crank up the fan too high and get more noise than results. Another is persistent bad odors. Even if you don't have these warnings, however, you should have the air filter checked at least once a year, and you may be able to do that yourself.

How can you fix anything if you do not know where it is? You cannot do it until you find it. Then again, how can you know fixing something is even possible unless someone figured out how to do it?

Have problems with your vehicle that you cannot fix yourself, you turn to a mechanic with more training and tools than you have. New cars go to owners with owners' manuals, so we can figure some things out on your own.

People are not born with owners' manuals. Well, that does not mean we cannot get our hands on one.

BIBLE: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Some people survive something horrible and end up thinking God did it to them. Other people think that they survived for a reason and they make sure they use the rest of their lives to make a difference in the world.

So, how do you change the rest of your life if you think that God is punishing you? How do you ask God for help to heal your soul, if you think He sent the misery to you?

The answer is in the Bible itself. No, this is not to get you to go to church, or convert you into something you are not. The vast majority of veterans I talk with are Christians but left the church a long time ago. They believe in God and Jesus, but not in people who are supposed to be representing what Jesus was sent to teach.

There are different air filters. Consider this one as the Heaven sent air filter!

There is love, and there is power in the Bible. The knowledge that you are loved no matter what you did and can be forgiven and keys to use the power you have within you, to not just heal, but spread the healing out!

While you may be thinking that all the negative thoughts getting into your brain belong there, they do not. They just snuck in because your filter was clogged. Time to clean it out and let the positive thoughts in. Yep, and then you can #TakeBackYourLife

Burn the Ships

King and Country

[Verse 1: Luke Smallbone]

How did we get here?

We're cast away on a lonely shore

I can see in your eyes, dear

It's hard to take for a moment more

We've got to

[Pre-Chorus: Joel Smallbone]

Burn the ships, cut the ties

Send a flare into the night

Say a prayer, turn the tide

Dry your tears and wave goodbye

[Chorus: Joel and Luke Smallbone]

Step into a new day

We can rise up from the dust and walk away

We can dance upon the heartache, yeah

So light a match, leave the past, burn the ships

And don't you look back

[Verse 2: Luke Smallbone]

Don't let it arrest you

This fear, this fear of fallin' again

And if you need a refuge

I will be right here until the end

Oh, it's time to

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!