Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 6, 2014
You trained long and hard to change from civilian to soldier. While you were fighting the battles of this country, you changed again. All of the things you went through were training you for the next part of your life living with the title of Veteran!
It isn't as if the military has you prepare to go home with a kevlar vest, helmet and shorts instead of pants. Well at least most of the time anyway.
Moment teenage soldier went into battle against TalibanZachary Boyd had been asleep when the firefight erupted in the mountains of Afghanistan. So he only had time to put on his helmet, body armour and grab his weapon in 2009.
Disabled American Veterans
Sometimes the wounds are easy to see and the scars become reminders of a price you paid for the VA card in your wallet.
Florida Hillbilly
Sometimes the scars are only visible to the bowed head in your hands. Reminders flood when you sleep with the enemy in your dreams but as you get busy with your life during the day, the enemy has time to regroup.
This battle is one you can win. Just like in combat, you didn't fight alone, you don't have to fight this one on your own either. The military gave you weapons to fight in combat. They didn't just hand them to you and let you figure them out on your own. They trained you to use them.
Same deal becoming a veteran. It isn't just your fight. You have weapons to use to fight PTSD already inside of you right where this enemy lives. You were born with them. All you need is training to use them the right way.
Everything in your life is "change" and so is PTSD. Trauma caused it to invade your core leaving you questioning everything you believed in and everything you thought about yourself. No one is ever stuck with the last change and you don't have to keep this change.
Changing again is possible if you are determined to get out of the abyss. Settle for the way things are and it is quicksand sucking in everything that is still good within you. Good? After all you went through and all you did? Yes! If goodness was not within you, you wouldn't have joined the military. You won't have been able to put your life on the line for the sake of others.
Evil people do not grieve for anyone but themselves. You grieve for everyone plus the "you" you were before and you just want things to go back to the way they were before. While that is impossible the good news is they can actually be better than before even with the parts of PTSD that cannot be reversed. You can learn how to take steps to calm your nerves, take the heat out of flashbacks and cut the nightmares down.
You have to fight from where the enemy camp is and that is in your mind where your emotions live. That massive computer holds all of it. Memories and emotions, good and bad ones, bash into whatever hope you have left but there is a code to bash them back. That code lives in the same part of your brain and we call it the soul. That part of you that makes you care enough to use your courage to fight for others. That code you lived by between crib and cot making you join the military.
Point Man International Ministries
At one time only troops engaged in heavy direct-fire combat were even treated, observed, or evaluated for psychological problems. But since the Vietnam War, and now the “War on Terror” (where there are no front lines or rear areas), it is clearly evident that PTSD is found both in combat veterans and in many rear-echelon support-type troops. Likewise, it has been diagnosed in sailors who spend their entire tours off the coast on ships. It has surfaced in troops who support the war from static compounds and not necessarily from the front lines, jungles, rice paddies, urban trenches, or Humvees convoying in a hot war zone. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can develop in service members who are engaged “down range”… regardless of job or proximity to danger.
To recognize PTSD as a real part of war’s after effects is vital not only for veterans, but also for the “significant others” at home. Family members, close friends, employers, etc. must obtain as much understanding about PTSD in order to help the veteran thrive in a civil society. In order for healing to begin both the veteran and the people closest to them need to understand and accept that this condition (PTSD) is genuine.
The very first aspect of PTSD that requires understanding is that it is not a mental illness. It is a normal reaction to the extreme stress encountered during your wartime experiences. It is important to become familiar with the variety of ways it manifests itself after returning home.
Stress affects everyone differently. In most cases there are warning signs that indicate a need for active stress management. Check off the signs that relate to you:
Persistent fatigue
Inability to concentrate
Flashes of anger—lashing out at friends and family for no apparent reason
Changes in eating and sleeping habits
Increased use of alcohol drugs, tobacco, etc.
Prolonged tension headaches, lower back aches, stomach problems or other physical problems
Prolonged feelings of depression, guilt, anxiety and helplessness
These are just some of the ways that PTSD may be affecting your life. The emotional and psychological stress of war does not go away simply by leaving it unattended.
The wounds of war do not go away with time, or just by leaving them alone. They need to be addressed, and you cannot do it alone. If you were wounded physically during combat you would allow a medic to attend to the wound. This is no different. Your psychological wounds must be attended to as well. They can be managed with proper help and support.
Time to train to heal as veterans!
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