You understand more than you think when it comes to PTSD

You understand more than you think when it comes to PTSD
by
Chaplain Kathie

These are just a few recent headlines

2 wounded in 3 Fort Worth shootingsFort Worth Star Telegram

Seven hours, seven victims in north MinneapolisMinneapolis Star Tribune

Gunfire pelts City Hall, enters officeEl Paso Times

Jersey City man is slain and another wounded as assailant opens fire at Duncan ...The Jersey Journal - NJ.com

Alachua County teen found fatally shot inside homeGainesville Sun

We can read these stories and think only of the people directly involved, yet so many others are changed by these events. The families of the people killed or wounded by violent acts. The witnesses having to cope with the fact one minute they were living in a normal day and the next it all went to hell. They feared for their own lives even if they were out of range. We may think it would have been an unrealistic fear but then when we understand bullets flying through the air were far from normal as it was. Trauma is lives changed in a second.

Here in Florida two Tampa police officers stopped a car and ended up shot. Both of them died.

Wounded Times: Two Tampa Police Officers killed after traffic stop
By Namguardianangel@aol.com (Kathie Costos)

The police department is in shock. The widow of Officer Jeffrey Kocab went into labor after this shooting. Witnesses were also affected by this and so were police officers around the country. One of the most dangerous jobs officers have are traffic stops. They know they can be hit by other cars, shot at, run over and they never know what to expect. When something like this happens, they are all wondering if it will happen to them as well.

Trauma removes our sense of safety as we live our lives. Think of when you lost someone you loved. A family member died suddenly. The shock you felt when you heard of their death was felt deeply. We are also affected when we hear tragic news even if we are far away from the event itself.

People across the world can tell you where they were on the morning of September 11th. They can usually even tell you second by second accounts of how they were reacting to the news. While they are talking about it, there is a deep sadness awakened within them. They are remembering trauma.

We can all understand PTSD when we think of our own lives.

When I do presentations on PTSD, my approach is simple. I make it personal to them, get them thinking about how their own lives are changed by events. Then while they are remembering how they felt, I ask them what it would be like for them if they had that shock over and over and over again.

There is the type of PTSD caused by one event in a person's life. One moment in time when they are forever changed. Natural disasters and crimes along with accidents or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, can in fact cause PTSD. If we as simple humans can be so deeply affected by one event, then it should be easy to understand the men and women serving in combat and what our veterans went through. After all, they are just humans like the rest of us.

The next time you hear someone say PTSD is not real or that they can't understand it, remind them of what happened in their own lives and then tell them to multiply it as if they lived it over and over again. Then ask them if they could just "get over it" or "stuff it" into the back of their minds. With help, PTSD veterans can recover and heal. Without help, it gets worse. We can keep making the same mistakes over and over again or we can make it real to the people refusing to understand.

If you can understand this, you can understand them.