Veteran done talking about suicides...too busy talking about hope

Veterans find hope after trauma

We Are Iowa
Brynn Carman
November 1, 2018

Therapist Michele Lundstrom says that's exactly the help veterans living with PTSD need to heal. A passion that gets them into the right mental state."I'm getting choked up talking about it because I sit with this all the time and I want people to know that you don't have to keep telling it over and over," said Lundstrom. "We can treat the symptoms and the symptoms tell a story and that's what people didn't know when people were returning from Vietnam."

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is extremely common among combat veterans. In the past it's been very hard to treat. But now younger vets in Iowa are learning how to overcome their mental injuries, and live here on home soil with a new found purpose.

"I'm done talking about veteran suicide," said veteran, Troy Peterson. "I got it. I was almost a statistic."

When Troy Peterson got home from Iraq, his life was riddled with addiction and depression. Things got so bad it almost it almost cost him his life.

"On July 30 of 2015 I attempted to take my own life," he said. "I planned it out that that was going to be my last day. I didn't want to admit that I was struggling and I didn't want to admit to my problems."

The next day he woke up in a hospital bed embarrassed and confused. But determined to find a new purpose.

"Best thing that ever happened to me, was that I hit rock bottom."
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