With everything going on in this country and chaos in communities, many people who have dedicated their lives to those communities are being torn apart.
Healthcare workers are panicked because the pandemic is spreading faster than they can keep up with. They want to be able to breathe again but when they ask for people to wear a mask and social distance to stop the spread of COVID-19, they get harassed.
Police Officers are being threatened, attacked and condemned for what a few bad ones did, plus facing losing their jobs with the push to "defund" the police departments. Yet these same officers turn around, show up for their shifts, put their lives on the line all over again every day.
Protestors are pushing for change, and rightly so, but in the process, they are opening the way for looters and rioters to destroy the communities...the same cities and towns that lost police vehicles.
Everyone else is either fighting over doing things for the sake of others, or whining about wanting to go out and have fun again.
It's a mess! If you do not have PTSD yet, many of you will if you do not take action now.
If you are one of the people serving your communities, facing all of this, you need to remember that those you serve with, are in it for the same reason. Trust one another and stop pushing them away so that they can help you heal...and then you can help them heal too!
If you made it your job to save other people, then shouldn't it also be your job to let those you serve with save your's too? Wouldn't you do it for them? Then instead of driving them away, let them know you need their help to stay. #BreakTheSilentService and #TakeBackYourLife
The best way to begin a healing road trip is with your family, or those who support you. That way, they can be your co-pilots instead of just watching you drive away.
Let them know what is on your mind. Let them know that you are doing this for them, as well as yourself.
Here is the first post from 2017.
Reminder, up until this month, my work was focused on veterans. Please substitute whatever caused your trauma whenever you see "combat" or "veteran" metioned.
From 2017
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.
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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!
Starting today, we're going to be changing the conversation from suicide to empowerment. The only way to change the outcome, is to help veterans find hope again. They need to know what PTSD is, why they have it, but more than that, they need to know they can take back control of their lives. Lot better than taking their lives isn't it?
February 2018
Starting today, we're going to be changing the conversation from suicide to empowerment. The only way to change the outcome, is to help veterans find hope again. They need to know what PTSD is, why they have it, but more than that, they need to know they can take back control of their lives. Lot better than taking their lives isn't it?
Check back on Sunday mornings for more.
If you have one of those groups "raising awareness" then please stop talking about what veterans already know how to do and start helping them learn what they need to know, how to #TakeBackYourLife
From March 2018
Getting out of neutral
Sunday morning empowerment zone features Marine veteran filmed yesterday at the Orlando Nam Knights bikeweek party. His simple message is empowerment! Take control of your life from this moment on. It's up to you where you go from here!
Today starts your road trip to Happier Life! Everyday there will be videos shot when I lived in Florida that covers the parts of the vehicle you drive and how they related to the vehicle you live in. Healing PTSD is possible if you get the right road map to get you there!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife
Starting tomorrow, videos on this will be republished from ones shot in Florida.
If you were combat. the vehicle you did your job in, was bringing you toward danger. If you were in Law Enforcement, it was taking you into danger. For firefighters and EMTs, it was taking you toward danger. If you were in an accident, being behind the wheel afterwards is hard too.
If you have PTSD and experienced road rage because of your jobs, this may help you learn how to avoid it in the future.
Yesterday I managed to put up the video, but nothing else. This post is about driving lessons and detours.
This is the video from yesterday.
Today it was one thing after another, but finally managed to do what i wanted to do. Most days are like that for a lot of people, especially living with #PTSD. If you have not done the first steps, please go back and review them, or the following will not help you as much.
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife
Today I had to do a couple of errands. We have only lived here about six months and while I am used to driving places I normally go to without a GPS, I have to use it for every other trip.
There was a detour on my way home and I had to follow the signs to find my way. Having PTSD is a very unfamiliar road for you. With following the signs that show you the way to get where you want to go...you'll get there!
When you are trying to heal as a survivor, confusion is like running into a detour. A familiar road is not open to you, so you have follow the signs to figure out how to get to where you want to go. Healing PTSD is the same feeling, when you know where you want to go, but things get messed up. You need to follow directions and get you to your destination.
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife
