Guilt may be a top factor in PTSD

Guilt may be a top factor in PTSD
by
Chaplain Kathie
How many times have I said this over the last 30 years? It is impossible to come up with a number. One of the reasons is a man mentioned in this article. Jonathan Shay has been a hero of mine every since I read the first few chapters of his book Achilles in Vietnam and emailed him. It was the first book I read that completely addressed what I was living with. Shay not only knew the mind of the veteran, he knew his soul.

It was 1999. Back then I was doing what I could to help other veterans like my husband understand that PTSD was not their fault and they could heal but there was still so much more for me to learn. Shay's book helped me to understand it better. It is because of him that I was assured I was right on believing that PTSD hit the most compassionate the hardest.

Back then I had a messed up email that would only allow people I knew to send them, so Jonathan couldn't email back. He took the time to find me and sent a reply by mail. I called him and then we began to email. I told him about a book I was working on. He read it and tried to help me get it published. No one wanted it. September 11th came and I called him knowing there would be a flood of veterans with PTSD symptoms walking up. I told him I would self-publish the book. For the Love of Jack is available for free now by emailing me woundedtimes@aol.com.

This study on Marines is far behind what was already known but it is important to point out that it can manage to do some good if the researchers know what to do with it. So far most of them have failed. The programs they have come up with support the notion that there is some kind of weakness in their minds instead of addressing the strength of their character. This approach has done more harm than good but they have failed to acknowledge this. All they have managed to do is come up with sending troops back into combat with medications and programs like Battlemind telling them they can "train their brains" to prevent it and be resilient, leaving them with the impression if they end up with PTSD, it is their fault their minds were not strong enough to take it.

Study suggests feelings of guilt may be a top factor in PTSD
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

A leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder is guilt that troops experience because of moral dilemmas faced in combat, according to preliminary findings of a study of active-duty Marines.

The conflicts that servicemembers feel may include "survivor's guilt," from living through an attack in which other servicemembers died, and witnessing or participating in the unintentional killing of women or children, researchers involved in the study say.

"How do they come to terms with that? They have to forgive themselves for pulling the trigger," says retired Navy captain Bill Nash, a psychiatrist and study co-author.

The idea of "moral injury" as a cause of PTSD is new to psychiatry. The American Psychiatric Association is only now considering new diagnostic criteria for the disorder that would include feelings of shame and guilt, says David Spiegel, a member of the working group rewriting the PTSD section.

Traditionally, PTSD symptoms such as nightmares or numbness to the world have been linked to combat violence, fear of being killed or loss of friends.

Half of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs have been diagnosed with mental health issues and the most common is PTSD, which is experienced by nearly 200,000 of these veterans, according to the VA.

PTSD caused by moral injury can lead to more severe reactions such as family violence or even suicide, says Jonathan Shay, a psychiatrist who has worked on military mental health policies.
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I tell the story often of a great example of this. A National Guardsman's Mom contacted me after her son tried to kill himself twice. He got divorced, lost his kids, his home and was sleeping on couches. I got his Mom to understand what PTSD was and why he acted the way he did. Soon her son called me. After enough phone calls to make him feel comfortable talking to me he was able to open up about the most haunting experience he had. All he could remember about it was the outcome. A family was killed in Iraq. He couldn't remember what happened before or what he tried to do to prevent it from happening. He forgot he screamed at the driver to stop the car. He threw rocks. He fired warning shots in the air. The car kept coming. In his mind it could have been one more suicide bomber out to blow up the Humvee and kill his team. His thoughts were about saving the men he was with. Once he was able to see everything that happened, he was able to forgive himself for what he had to do.

A nurse during the Gulf War was haunted by the lives of the men she couldn't save. She had forgotten how many lived on because she was there to help them on one horrible day of carnage.

Regrets can haunt anyone but for the men and women in the military, they have an abundance of events piled onto others. A soldier survived an attack but a buddy died and he thought it should have been him going home in a casket. A Marine recovering from an IED regrets he survived without his legs when his best friend died along with several others. Their stories are timeless and all too often, endless. They cannot heal unless they are helped to see the power already within them and be able to forgive themselves for whatever they believe they need forgiveness for.

Medications numb the pain but addressing the spiritual heals them. This is what has to happen. When they forgive others and themselves, they are able to feel the good feelings without regret. When families are able to forgive them for what they do under the control of PTSD, it heals the family relationships and helps the combat veteran to heal faster and deeper. What comes out on the other side of the darkness is a better person and a stronger family. I have not only seen this happen, I've lived it. My husband and I have been through all the hell possible but in the 27 years of our marriage I can honestly say I don't regret one day of it. Sure there are still some issues we have to adjust to but most of it has become "normal" for us. In my book I wrote about the "new normal" because for all the standards set by "experts" on marriage, our's is far from normal. However it is normal for a unique class of citizens we call veterans. Less than 10% of the population of America are veterans and less than 1% serve in the military today. Once we faced the fact that we are not a normal family by any measure, living a different type of life was easier to accept and thrive with.

Once a veteran sees why they joined and the fact they were willing to die for the sake of others, they begin to forgive themselves.

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

This is also the reason I am with Point Man Ministries.