Courage and Combat PTSD

This is from an interview I did back in 2012. Same message now as it was back then, learn what you need to know to #TakeBackYourLife

There are many things that keep getting missed when we talk about Combat and PTSD. This is to clear up the biggest one of all. What is courage and how does it link to being "mentally tough" so that you can push past what you were told about "resiliency" training. Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare of Wounded Times Blog tries to explain this in interview done by Union Squared Studios. woundedtimes.blogspot.com

Wounded Minds and Us

As promised, this is the beginning of the videos I will be putting up today. 

While the numbers are not the same as they are today, the message remains the same.

This was the first one I did back in 2006.
Wounded Minds and Us


In 2006 I created this video on Wounded Minds. 

Long before PTSD was in the news, families like mine were doing the best we could to make our veterans lives better. 

Sometimes we failed but after three decades, I'm still married. I still have no idea how other families do it when they know hardly nothing about PTSD. 

I knew almost everything and there were times when it was almost impossible to find hope. 

The key is to learn as much as you can, love as an active partner in their healing and find what works to make your lives better!

This is from my old website, NamGuardianAngel. Go to Combat PTSD Wounded Times to learn more.


The following are for family members.

Why do so many families not know about PTSD or what combat can do until it is too late? Why do so many walk away instead of putting up a fight after they fought in combat?

Here is another old video that I am putting back up. When they come home, it is the job of their families to watch their backs and make sure we get them whatever they need to heal. PTSD doesn't have to win anything! They fought in combat, but we have to fight because they came home from it!

Do you love your veteran? Then fight like hell to prove it! This cuts into their soul and it is up to you to find the one you fell in love with and drag that soul out of hell! They can heal if you fight to get them back to who they are instead of judging how they are!

PTSD Patrol: Have you learned how to drive your life?

Want to take charge of the road?
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
September 2, 2018

When my husband needs my car, I am stuck and usually sulk because the only vehicle I can use is his Harley. The problem is, I never learned how to drive it.

So yesterday, I was sulking because I wanted to do get out of the house. That got me thinking about how a lot of people do not know how to drive their own lives. 

If you do not know how to take control of the vehicle you live in, you are not going anywhere. Pretty depressing when it is all right there in front of you!

You can have the keys in your hand, but until you know how to turn on the ignition, there is no power source. The keys to healing are in your hands, so turn them on!

Here is a short video because I already did two others. The rest of today, I am putting up old videos on healing and what PTSD is. Turn them on and learn how to #TakeBackYourLife and stop being stuck where you are!

PTSD Patrol Empowerment Zone Extra

Suicide Prevention Month
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
September 1, 2018

My buddy Sgt. Dave and I went to the Vietnam Memorial across from Lake Baldwin VA clinic on Thursday. Since Suicide Prevention Month was starting on today, we decided to do a couple of videos on the subject.

I called it Suicide Awareness Month because for me, the only way to prevent suicides is by raising awareness of how to do it. The slogan that has become an earworm traps out everything they need to hear.

"If you are one of the 92 percent of the population who regularly experience earworms—snippets of music that pop uninvited into your head and won't go away—you might wish there was a way to make them stop. Earworms are a generally benign form of rumination, the repetitive, intrusive thoughts associated with anxiety and depression."

The slogan of "22 a day" is an earworm and does absolutely nothing to offer hope. 

We need to replace that earworm with another "slogan" that will empower veterans to discover how powerful they still are. #TakeBackYourLife lets them know that they are in control over their healing.

They are survivors and need to be treated like it. Maybe then they will understand that they have nothing to be ashamed of as someone who risked their lives for others. The price they pay, is because of what they were willing to do.

They are not stuck where they are because they deserve to be, but empowered to use that same courage to take control over their lives again.

They need to be supported by those they risked their lives with. Peer support works better than anything else but fear of judgment from their peers traps them suffering in the silence. If you talk about a slogan, that is where you will leave them...and lose them.

  

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