PTSD:1Kings 19:1-10 Resting, not running

There are many times you will read in a newspaper or online publication PTSD has been documented back to Vietnam, WWII and even back to the Civil War. What you don't read often enough is that PTSD has been documented all the way back thru history. Say what you will about the Bible but you have to remember the writers of the pages of the Books were ancient people, limited on what they understood and capabilities. Just read their words and you will see the same things modern humans go thru. PTSD has not changed since the beginning of time because humans after are still only human.

The other day I heard a man say he can track back his ancestors to the Revolutionary war. I said, " I can track mine back to the Trojan war." We all tend to have wars stand out in relationship to us because they are documented events in history but also because the people fighting in the wars were rare compared to the rest of society at the time. Had I said my ancestors were farmers in Greece, well that would have been forgotten in an instant but the connection to a historical event was memorable. So how is it that we forget how many wars and accounts from warriors were in the Bible? We forget that Abraham lead warriors and that Moses lead men into battle as well as what Joshua did to Jericho after the part about the wall coming down. The Old Testament is full of accounts of it as well as the suffering of those who fought in these historical battles.

The other factor is most think God either judged them or abandoned them. It doesn't matter what faith people claim to have because every civilization, culture and faith is comprised of humans and PTSD strikes humans, twisting what they used to believe because they have evolved into different thoughts after traumatic events. They rationalize differently as they battle the memories claiming parts of their soul and mind. No one comes out of traumatic events unchanged or unchallenged. Even if we survivor trauma and become stronger, we changed.

Often I hear about the "one too many times" happening and the strength they used to end up with has been replaced by heart wrenching pain. This is from the "secondary stressor" that hit them hard enough to knock them down. It could have been the 50th traumatic event they survived but it was the second one that mattered to them and it's like PTSD on steroids. This is why the redeployments of troops increases the risk of PTSD by 50%. It's also why many veterans believe they have "healed" or "recovered" from PTSD only to find out years later they really hadn't when something monumental occurs. Vietnam veterans believing they had escaped it crash emotionally trying to figure out what happened to them because they have never heard of a "secondary stressor" waiting for them. When they begin to explore their past they find exactly why they thought they had healed. They were masking it by drinking, smoking pot or doing harder drugs. They remember times when their emotions were out of their control but they managed to hide them in the back of their minds. The pain was always there but they hid it well, even from themselves.

4/19/09 1Kings 19:1-10 Resting, not running
April 21, 2009
1 Kings 19:1-10
Resting, not running
When James came home from Iraq one of the concerns Susie and I had was what is commonly referred to as PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. We’ve all heard of it. Those constantly on high alert emotionally for long periods of time experience this type of disorder. It’s found not only in combat soldiers but also those involved in police, fire and emergency professions. Dr. Terence Keane, who heads the behavioral science division of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, said: “We might think of [emergency workers] as stress resilient, but the reality is that the on-the-job pressure for these emergency service workers can be overwhelming.”
Craig Brian Larson, editor of PreachingToday.com; source: David B. Caruso, “NYC mayor’s remark sparks ‘hero’ debate,” Associated Press (11-1-07)
PTSD manifests itself in many forms anger, depression, anxiety and sleep disorders to name a few. My brother-in-law is about the only person I know in our family who could identify with James’ experience because he did a tour in Vietnam. He told me that being in the Infantry during wartime is 95% boredom and 5% terror. The way James explained his experienced, it seems that, for the most part, it was the other way around for his company. What a grinding toll that would take on your soul.
Reading the account in 1 Kings 18-19 in the light of emotional stress Elijah very likely was experiencing the same kind of stress. Elijah was on a spiritual high. In sending fire down upon the sacrifice God had answered his prayer. Not only that but God also announced the end of the long draught. Truly, Elijah was a heroic prophet. He stood up to all the false prophets of Baal and took charge of destroying them. With all of this he was a man of great humility, coming before God in prayer and waiting upon God for an answer.
But we can’t forget that Elijah’s nature is just like ours. As we find here in chapter 19 Elijah suffered discouragement, despondency and depression. And, as we learn in this passage he came to a point where he just couldn’t take it any more.

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