Courage to ask, compassion to listen

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 17, 2024

How many times have you greeted someone with, "Hi, how are you?" Do you say it without thinking about the door you just opened? Most of us don't think about hearing anything more than saying they are good. We don't expect to hear the real answer as we walk away.

On Mother's Day, one of my neighbors came into my yard while I was outside with Charlie on the deck. I asked her how it was going and was prepared for the answer. Judging by the sadness she was clearly showing, it was obvious, she needed to talk. We've had many conversations about her husband's illness because she listened to mine about my husband's. We have a lot in common but it dawned on me that the support we give to one another would not be possible had we not been courageous enough to ask and compassionate enough to listen to the answer.

The greatest gift we can give is our time and the willingness to listen to them.

When I was training to become a Chaplain, that point was made clear when the instructor asked us what we would need when we were going through emotional turmoil. All of us knew it would be to have someone to talk to. It isn't as easy to find as you may think, especially when we tend to hide our pain. It is even harder for us to find someone who will understand what we're trying to say because we fear being judged by them.

They open the door for us when they dare to ask us and tell us about their struggles. We become assured they will understand what we hide because they did too. 

Time is such an enormous gift, because most of the time, others want to speak more than they are willing to listen. When they do listen, they want to shut down the conversation with words to "fix" them. Sometimes those words and be more damaging than not being willing to listen at all. 

Too many times I've heard responses such as, "God only gives us what we can handle." The person in pain was just told that God did it to them. How can anyone be expected to ask God for help if they were just informed He did it to them? They can't. They were also told that the person they were trying to share their pain with, just judged them as worthy of God's punishment. They hear from others, "Get over it," as if the expiration date has come and they should move on. It doesn't help if they don't know how to begin to do the one thing they want most. 

Talking is often too hard to do when you are in emotional/spiritual pain. I know I hide a lot because of history and the way some people responded to times when I shared with them, taught me I shouldn't. That's why I have a therapist trained to listen without judgment and offer advice as to how I may heal. I am writing again because of her. It is hard to do however, I am remembering why I do what I do and who I am again.

I am healing and happier although the problems are sadly not going away. At least I have enough hope that each day brings the possibility the surgeon we need will be found and my husband gets the operation he needs. We've been waiting for a year. My neighbor has it worse because she doesn't have all the support I do to help her get through it. All I can do is be there to listen and set my problems aside long enough to give her a hug.

PTSD why do nothing when you can do something today to heal?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 12, 2023

Last year there were headlines like this one from Fortune. "The mental health crisis is decimating America’s workforce–but we only have enough therapists for 7% of the population"

It had this warning.

What we’re facing
Mental illness is skyrocketing. Last year alone, 76% of U.S. workers reported at least one symptom of mental illness. The situation looks nothing like it did even three years ago.

Every employee engagement survey you see reports mental health as the number one issue in organizations. And yet, utilization of mental health benefits is extremely low, with the average utilization rate by employees hovering around 2%.

People like me have been pushing how getting therapy for #PTSD works for decades. We know it does but no matter how many people we can get to admit they need help, it does no good when the help they need isn't there.

I wasn't going to write this. To tell you the truth, I need therapy but can't get it. It isn't because of the shortage right now. I've been involved in a health crisis with my husband needing 24-7 care from me since last year. I couldn't leave him alone and getting him out of the house for anything other than doctor's appointments has been impossible. It has left me drained physically, mentally, and emotionally, as well as spiritually. Writing has gotten harder and harder to do. What became impossible was offering spiritual help to others with PTSD. That has been devastating.

Until our lives are more stable and I can make appointments with a therapist to take care of myself, I can do nothing but wait or do what I can to help myself for now. Writing has always been therapeutic for me, but instead of working on the 4th book for the series I published last year, I can only research by binge-watching shows like Supernatural and Grimm. The book is stuck in my brain and I gave up trying to put it into words. It happened before after someone I loved died of COVID and I couldn't get past the grief. I went into therapy and then wrote the three books published last year. I know it can help me again but for now, I do what I can when I can until hope starts to fill me again.

I still have a deep spiritual connection to God, which helps beyond words. It keeps me from wanting to give up on whatever hope I have left within me.

As for you, what can you do now until you can find a therapist? Find places where you belong! Google videos on PTSD and begin to watch ones from people who were suffering to learn how their healing journey began. Find hope there.

TEDTalks has some pretty good ones like this.

If you are a spiritual person, talk to God or whatever high power you believe in.  Find a support group that focuses on what caused your PTSD. Whatever you find comforting online is better than doing nothing when you can be doing something to help you right now until you can find a therapist to help you heal more than you can imagine.

Columbus expert addresses changing #PTSD therapies

MENTAL HEALTH: Columbus expert addresses changing PTSD therapies

News 3
by: Olivia Yepez
Posted: Sep 25, 2023

“Post-traumatic stress disorder is my body’s physiological, emotional, mental reaction to a life-threatening event and doesn’t have to threaten my life,” said Waynick.

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — Long misunderstood, the way people view and treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has changed drastically over time. The disease is often associated with soldiers, however its current definition extends to traumatic events beyond warfare, such as rape and natural disasters.

Often linked with increased risk of suicide, experts now emphasize the importance of receiving treatment for what was once viewed as an untreatable condition. September marks National Suicide Prevention Month in the United States.

“We have record of PTSD going all the way back to the Greek and Roman wars,” said Pastoral Institute CEO Thomas Waynick, who will step down from the position at the end of October. Prior to joining the Pastoral Institute, Waynick was a U.S. Army chaplain for 35 years and director of the Family Life Training Center at Fort Moore.

National Geographic reported in a 2020 story accounts of symptoms aligning with PTSD were recorded as much as 3,000 years ago in Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets.

“Post-traumatic stress disorder is my body’s physiological, emotional, mental reaction to a life-threatening event and doesn’t have to threaten my life,” said Waynick.
read more here

Find some encouragement with the rest of this article...and hope too!

shortage of mental health providers just sent a sense of hopelessness up my spine

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 30, 2023

Most of us understand how it feels to be so frustrated all we want to do is SCREAM! That's the way I've been feeling for decades. Reading the news on the shortage of mental health providers just sent a sense of hopelessness up my spine. I screamed!

Scream

As the mental health crisis in children and teens worsens, the dire shortage of mental health providers is preventing young people from getting the help they need
Steven Berkowitz, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Sun, August 27, 2023

The situation is so grim that in October 2021, health care professionals declared a national emergency in child mental health. Since then, the crisis has not abated; it’s only gotten worse. But there are not enough mental health professionals to meet the need.

The hospital where I practice recently admitted a 14-year-old girl with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, to our outpatient program. She was referred to us six months earlier, in October 2022, but at the time we were at capacity. Although we tried to refer her to several other hospitals, they too were full. During that six-month wait, she attempted suicide.

Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common story for young people with mental health issues. A 2021 survey of 88 children’s hospitals reported that they admit, on average, four teens per day to inpatient programs. At many of these hospitals, more children await help, but there are simply not enough services or psychiatric beds for them.

So these children languish, sometimes for days or even a week, in hospital emergency departments. This is not a good place for a young person coping with grave mental health issues and perhaps considering suicide. Waiting at home is not a good option either – the family is often unable or unwilling to deal with a child who is distraught or violent.

I am a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Colorado, where I founded and direct the Stress, Trauma, Adversity Research and Treatment Center. For 30 years, my practice has focused on youth stress and trauma.
read more here

First getting people to understand what #PTSD was seemed an impossible endeavor. Then the battle was to get the message across that no one had to suffer when they could heal as a survivor of what trauma did to them. That offered them hope they weren't stuck the way they were. The problem back then was there were not enough mental health professionals with specialized training in trauma. 

How could we expect anyone to seek help when it clearly wouldn't be there for them? Years passed and as word spread about the millions suffering, that field grew. The problem was, that they were focused on veterans while unwilling to understand that PTSD was a human wound caused by many different traumatic events. 

To see all of this end up right back to where I started 4 decades ago is heartbreaking, but all is not hopeless. To know that just being able to talk to someone begins the healing process and all of us can at least listen to them is something all of us can do until things change again. 

If you know you need help and believe you may have #PTSD, no matter what the cause was, go here and take the assessment from the National Center For PTSD to get an idea of what you may be experiencing. The best way to know for sure is to be evaluated by a mental health professional but until there are more of them, you can take steps now to begin to heal.

Learn what it is, and why you were hit by it, and try to explain it to the people in your life. Right now, just like you are assuming things about yourself they are making assumptions too. They don't know any better than you do. Put yourself in their place and understand you'd probably do the same thing if you didn't know what it was.

You do not have to go into details with them but if you trust them, then find what helps you understand it better and share it with them. Just begin the conversation by telling them you need help and for them to listen. 

If you don't have anyone you trust, then search online for groups that focus on the cause of your PTSD because they will understand what you survived better than other groups. If you cannot find one, then search for groups focusing on PTSD in general. Any support is better than no support at all because at least you'll understand you are not alone in what you are dealing with. Sit back, read, or listen to what they have to say, and then if you feel comfortable, try to open up. If not, then move on to another group until you find one you feel comfortable with.

Do not give up trying to find a mental health professional. If you have to wait months for an appointment, take it. There is only so much you can do without their help but at least you can begin to heal until you find one. Also, keep in mind there are online providers to help you too.

PTSD still is considered “new” in the world of mental health

PTSD: knowing is the first step

The Gazette
Erin Foster
Jun. 22, 2023

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can greatly impact any person who has experienced trauma in their life. Often associated with the aftermath and symptoms many veterans experience, PTSD still is considered “new” in the world of mental health.

Erin Foster is director of the Linn County Mental Health Access Center , which opened in 2021 (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
First recognized in the early 80s, PTSD symptoms were referred and described as “shell shock” and “war neurosis.” Since the 1980s more research, education and advocacy around PTSD has had a strong focus on military personnel and veterans. More recently the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder has trickled into everyday lives of those not in the military as we now understand trauma can be experienced in my forms and places by anyone.

It is estimated that over 70 percent of adults will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime and more than 20 percent will develop PTSD. PTSD is believed to affect more than 5 million U.S. adults in a given year, and while it does not discriminate by gender, age or race, it does affect women at a slightly higher percentage and middle-aged individuals compared to youth and those over the age of 60.

Although PTSD seems to be more and more common, so are the treatments and services available. The best clinical treatment for this condition still is cognitive therapies. These therapies can use exposure therapy that allows individuals to learn new coping mechanisms when triggers appear. Specifically, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapies have great research around them and are gaining more popularity in helping those with PTSD.
read more here

On a personal note, if you read this site since the beginning, then you know the term "new normal" came from me. I cannot express how it feels to have those words being said as if it has finally become something we can live with, and not be ashamed we survived the cause of it.

Deep dive research-veteran suicides 44 a day!

Veterans' Healthcare and the Political Divide after a Mass Shooting

CNN's Kim Brunhuber speaks with professor and retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Mona Pearl Treyball, about veterans' mental health care in the wake of the mass shooting in Atlanta, where authorities say the shooter was a veteran. Watch the video here

Who is Mona Pearl Treyball? Why is what she said about the rate of suicides in veterans being closer to 44 a day important? Because too many just jumped on the headline of 22 a day and never once bothered to read the report from the VA back in 2012!

I did. I've been screaming about all this ever since but without the data, all I had was an educated guess. I thought it was over 70. Maybe I'm still right when you factor everything else in. The thing is, we know she has facts.

I just got vindicated because I was called a liar when I said it wasn't 22 a day. No matter who I talked to and pointed out the facts, I was called a liar. I was called a liar by strangers. What hurt the most was that I was also called a liar by friends that knew how seriously I took all this. All of it piled up and I stopped trying to help change the outcome for veterans. 

Sure I still do what I can but considering no one is talking about PTSD in the rest of us, I figured I'd be able to make a bigger difference without people deciding to make money off our suffering and get in the way of what works.

US Senator uncommon mental health champion

After a whirlwind year, John Fetterman is back in the Senate

NPR
Manuela López Restrepo
April 20, 2023

Then in February, after a hospital visit related to lightheadedness, Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed medical center to receive treatment for clinical depression.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) speaks to reporters on the way to the weekly Senate Policy Luncheons at the U.S. Capitol Building on April 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

What's the big deal? Fetterman's public acknowledgment of his own mental health struggles is rare for politicians, even as depression has become an increasingly common challenge for Americans.

After six weeks of treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center's neuro-psychology unit, Fetterman says his doctor told him his depression was in remission. Depression in stroke survivors is fairly common. NPR's Rhitu Chaterjee also reported that around 30% of stroke patients will go on to have depression in the first five years after the stroke. That risk increases if they've already dealt with depression in the past, like Fetterman. With his transparency, Fetterman has created a platform for discussing mental health issues, and encouraged other politicians to share their own stories.

On creating a platform to discuss mental health:

I'm honored to have the ability to try to pay it forward, because I was blessed in my opportunities. I want to say the kinds of things that I would have heard years ago that got me into action. And I would tell anybody listening to this interview, if you suffer from depression, or you have a loved one, please let them know that you don't need to just suffer with that depression. Get treatment, and get help. If I'd had done that years ago, I would not have had to put my family and myself and my colleagues [through] that if I had gotten help.

So if you suffer from it, you have an opportunity to get rid of it. And I didn't believe it. But right now I'm the guy that didn't believe that I could get rid of my depression. And now I did.
learn more here

Ukraine: 1 year after trauma of war there's an app for that

The mental health first aiders fighting back in Ukraine

BBC
By Martha Henriques
23rd February 2023

The question is, when an entire country is under siege, infrastructure is being targeted, and movement in the open is dangerous or impossible, how do you provide that essential information before the golden hours are up?

Mental health workers in Ukraine have been providing urgent psychological care since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. Their work could limit the lasting mental health repercussions of the war.

When Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine broke out on 24 February 2022, Iryna Frankova, a medical doctor and clinical psychologist working at Bogomolets National Medical University in Kyiv, knew that she had to act fast. There was the need to check her loved ones were safe, and that she wasn't in imminent danger. There was the question of whether to leave and if so, where to go.

But there was another urgent question too. Ukraine would soon be facing a crisis in mental health and, if previous conflicts were anything to go by, this was likely to be sidelined at precisely the moment when the most impactful help could be given – right at the start.

After a trauma, there is a window known as the "golden hours", a critical period in which action to support people's mental health can limit long-term damage, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression.

"It's the idea is that we really need to reach people in a very early stage after the exposure to trauma, in order to be able to prevent mental health consequences," says Frankova, speaking to BBC Future one year after the war began.

On one level, this might seem common sense: a particularly good time to offer someone comfort is when they are reeling from shock. But the evidence suggests that such small acts of support – sometimes as simple as reminding someone that they are not alone – reduces the risk of developing conditions that linger for years.

A year into the war, the app has now reached 81,000 users, and the service is now expanding beyond the automated chatbot service to offer a live chat with mental health professionals. They've had close to 5,000 requests already, Lezin says. Now, the chatbot has become a part of a European Union-funded project on psychosocial support for Ukrainians in bordering countries. They're soon to launch the service on WhatsApp, as well as its own standalone app. "This is a good beginning," says Frankova.
read more here

Is your enemy within skin?

The things I survived were bad, but what was worse, was what I did to myself afterward. The things I heard in my head, made me beat myself up more than my ex-husband did. In other words, I did more damage to me long after I got away from him than he could ever do to me. #PTSD is what comes to those who survive and won't give up until we deliver the eviction notice in the form of compassion for ourselves.

This picture is Celia, the witch I think my bad voice in my head looks like. Her smug expression is when I give into whatever horrible thing she says I am as if she won something. The thing is, she may win for a time, and the tears come, but the "win" never lasts long. I refuse to surrender to the enemy within my skin.

This is a good article on what we do to ourselves after others did it first. If you take one thing away from this, I hope you realize that you do not have to surrender yourself to your Celia and have the power within you to heal the wounds created by others as much as you can heal the self-inflicted wounds you carry. 

Silencing Our Inner Critic After Attachment Trauma

How to overcome three common inner critic messages
Psychology Today
Annie Tanasugarn Ph.D., CCTSA
Posted January 28, 2023

KEY POINTS
One of the most common after-effects of childhood attachment trauma is the development of a harsh inner critic.
At the root of self-hate and self-neglect are conditioned beliefs that one isn't good enough to be loved or cared for.
Feelings of self-hate and self-neglect can generalize to self-sabotaging behavior where trauma enactment is likely.

One of the most common after-effects of childhood attachment trauma is the development of a harsh inner critic that replaces a person’s inner voice. By nature, we are hardwired to connect with others, which teaches us how to love and respect ourselves.

However, attachment trauma from abuse, neglect, abandonment, or invalidation forces a child to adapt to punitive environments where their sense of self becomes compromised. Instead of feeling connection and safety with those in their life, they learn survival mode. Instead of learning self-love and self-advocacy from a healthy upbringing, they forgo accepting themselves in exchange for compulsively trying to become what they believe their caregivers will want.

What Is Our Inner Critic?

Anyone can develop negative feelings towards their choices or behavior, especially in vulnerable moments. However, what separates negative feelings from a cruel inner critic is a sense of worthlessness at its core message. Negative feelings based on making a poor choice relate to guilt, whereas the messages connected to an inner critic relate to shame.

Thus, negative feelings associated with guilt may include a person saying, “I made a mistake,” whereas the message received from shame may include, “I am a mistake.”
read more here

The late Captain James ‘Dustin’ Samples of the Cleveland Fire Department may still save lives

TN lawmakers name act after firefighter who died after long PTSD battle

FOX 17 Nashville
by Sydney Keller
Monday, January 30th, 2023

"We can’t legislate away traumatic accidents and emergencies, but we can remove obstacles to getting support when firefighters need it. Addressing the crisis of PTSD and suicide in the fire service requires a commitment to both prevention and treatment from all stakeholders and that’s what SB856 aims to do."

Two Tennessee Republican lawmakers filed an act Monday which aims at providing support for firefighters who are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

State Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) and Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) filed the James ‘Dustin’ Samples Act in honor of Captain James ‘Dustin’ Samples of the Cleveland Fire Department who sadly committed suicide in 2020 after a long-time battle with PTSD.

Sen. Bailey says that lawmakers owe it to firefighters and those who work to save lives to do all they can to prevent any risk of injury on the job.
read more here

If you are contemplating a field in mental health, God bless you

The clock is ticking at worldometers! 8 billion people as of January 2, 2023, at 8:15 on the east coast of the United States. As for the US, "DEC. 29, 2022 — As the nation prepares to ring in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau today projected the U.S. population will be 334,233,854 on Jan. 1, 2023."

We know that PTSD does not just happen to veterans in the US. We know that it strikes human survivors. And now we know that most of the causes are because of what other humans do. The top five causes are all about other people doing something to cause the trauma.

(Check the link and see where the information came from.)

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Statistics: 2022 Update
CFHA

Report Highlights
6% or 3 in every 50 American adults will have gone through PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives [9].
The leading cause of PTSD is sexual violence at 33%, with 94% of rape victims developing symptoms of PTSD during the first two weeks after their traumatic experience [23] [28].
PTSD is most prevalent among American adults between the ages of 45 and 49 years old at 9.2% [12].
Women have a lifetime PTSD prevalence rate of 9.7%, compared to 3.6% in men [17].
Civilian women have a lifetime prevalence rate of 8%, compared to 13.4% among military women [24].
11% to 23% of veterans have experienced PTSD within a given year [2].
About 17.2 veterans die by suicide each day, with veterans being 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide than civilians [2].
3 in 10 or 30% of the first responders have PTSD [6].
6 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy can help ease symptom severity by about 50% in 21% to 46% of patients with PTSD [7].
People with PTSD who use cannabis for their symptoms are 2.57 times more likely to recover from this condition [3].
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an intense, uncontrollable emotional and physical reaction to a reminder of a traumatic event or distressing memories [4]. This abnormal response to triggers can last for days and even years after the harrowing incident or traumatic event.

Think about what that all means to people in the US, as well as around the world. For all we know about PTSD and the results of the causes, we will never know how many people have PTSD.  There are far too many that will not be diagnosed and never enough people to be able to diagnose and treat the survivors. As long as we keep doing a lousy job of letting people know what PTSD is, why they have it, and give them hope, as well as a way to heal, we will keep seeing the suffering that does not have to happen.

Take the information you just learned and try an experiment on your own. Ask a friend or family member what they know about PTSD. If the response you get is the same one I've gotten for the last 40 years, they will say it is something veterans get. While we know that is not true, we know that they are the only group reporters want to cover. Even fewer reporters want to cover those serving today as if that makes sense to them. Why bother to report on when the events take place?

The clock is ticking around the world on the population of the planet but it is also ticking on the time lost when people survive what others do to them, but they don't have someone doing something for them.

If you are contemplating a field in mental health, God bless you because the world needs more people like you!

Kathie Costos author of Ministers Of The Mystery series

Post-trauma days of living different lives as survivors,

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

December 4, 2021

If you listen to any news program, the chances are, you have no idea what is going on when it comes to PTSD. Until we do, finally, understand that while the causes of PTSD are different, what comes after in the Post-trauma days of living different lives as survivors, will remain the silent suffering of millions around the world.

Survivors had been suffering in silence long before I came along into this life. The issue that grieves me most of all, is the simple fact that none of it had to happen.

None of it will change until we actually manage to change the conversation we're having, and what we settle for the press continuing to ignore.

I read, what are considered to be, strange things all the time. It makes sense to me because as a survivor, I am strange to others, and I'm OK with that. What give me more comfort is the fact that when I read strange things, I find how much we as humans surviving life, are all linked together.

Reading "Front-line healthcare workers at risk of suffering from PTSD", on The Morning Star covered what is happening with healthcare workers facing the continued battle against the pandemic. They are expecting over 200,000 new cases of survivors dealing with PTSD. It shows what most experts know.

Professor Neil Greenberg, a PTSD specialist at the college, said: “It’s a common misunderstanding that only people in the armed forces can develop PTSD — anyone exposed to a traumatic event is at risk.

“However, clearly there are jobs, including working in many healthcare settings, where experiencing traumatic events is more common so the risk of developing PTSD is unfortunately much higher.”

“Early and effective support can reduce the likelihood of PTSD and those affected should be able to access evidence-based treatment in a timely manner,” Prof Greenberg added.

Yes, you read that right. It isn't just about people in the military. PTSD strikes survivors, no matter what they survived. The problem with the article is that it also strikes people going about their daily lives when something happened to them without warning, leaving them to wonder if it was such a good thing they survived it or not.

PTSD from occupations also hit all over the world. Keep in mind that these people are still facing life as the rest of us, and then their jobs are piled onto their shoulders taking care of the rest of us, and all too often, each other as well.

Here in the US, our healtcare providers are dealing with the same linked traumas. For providers with PTSD, the trauma of COVID-19 isn’t over by the Association of American Medical Colleges

Even before the pandemic, 16% of emergency physicians self-reported symptoms of PTSD. Recent data, including an unpublished survey conducted in the fall of 2020 and presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in May, suggest that as many as 36% of front-line physicians suffer from the condition. And that statistic omits those who don’t meet strict diagnostic criteria but have still experienced powerful psychological effects. “Health care workers had to worry about not having enough beds, not having enough ventilators. They had to move into fields they didn’t know,” says Jessica Gold, MD, a psychiatrist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who treats physicians. “They saw their colleagues die or had to intubate their co-workers, and they had to worry about ending up that way themselves. Those are huge traumas.”

The article points out many differnt, important points, however, this one applies to everyone suffering as survivors of the causes of our traumas.

For providers suffering from PTSD and the hospitals that rely on them, what lies ahead is unclear. Once a person develops PTSD, it can last for years. More than a decade after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, 27% of police responders were still suffering symptoms, for example. But certain treatments, including anti-anxiety medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, have been shown to help. Bankhead-Kendall certainly finds her therapy useful. For one, she’s learned to cry more. “My counselor told me I needed to not keep things bottled up, and to grieve, so when I’m feeling really sad, I find an appropriate place and I cry,” she says. “It seems really simple, kind of silly, but it helps.”

It doesn't seem silly to me, or any of the other people out there getting the right kind of information about healing. We have to let out the pain before we can heal hope.

If you have PTSD, get  help to heal and then pass it on. If you read something in your favorite news source and they get something wrong, let them know what the truth is. If they get it right, praise them so they continue to be beneficial to other survivors.

Reach out to anyone, no matter what caused their PTSD and understand it is not a contest between who is suffering more, but is a quest to help them gain strength from your experiences. Be the miracle for others the way you had someone start yours!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD.

PTSD Overgrown Harvest

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 27, 2021

When will people ever learn? When will the truth become unhidden? Until that day comes, millions around the country will continue to suffer in silence.

When people hear PTSD, they assume it is related to military service. After all, that is all they hear about.

The number of Veterans with PTSD varies by service era
Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF): About 11-20 out of every 100 Veterans (or between 11-20%) who served in OIF or OEF have PTSD in a given year.
Gulf War (Desert Storm): About 12 out of every 100 Gulf War Veterans (or 12%) have PTSD in a given year.
Vietnam War: About 15 out of every 100 Vietnam Veterans (or 15%) were currently diagnosed with PTSD at the time of the most recent study in the late 1980s, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS). It is estimated that about 30 out of every 100 (or 30%) of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime.

When they hear about female veterans, they assume it has to be related to sexual trauma. After all, that is all they hear about.

Among Veterans who use VA health care, about:
23 out of 100 women (or 23%) reported sexual assault when in the military.
55 out of 100 women (or 55%) and 38 out of 100 men (or 38%) have experienced sexual harassment when in the military.

Facts about How Common PTSD Is
The following statistics are based on the U.S. population:
About 6 out of every 100 people (or 6% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
About 15 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
About 8 of every 100 women (or 8%) develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 men (or 4%).

Firefighters end up with PTSD too, but too few hear about them.

As the Florian's Knights full patch motorcycle club, the freedom felt on two wheels inspires North American firefighters to speak truth against the stigma of first responder mental health and outlaw biker culture.

Police officers, emergency responders, and every other human surviving the thing that caused PTSD, pay a price, but too few even know what we're dealing with. PTSD is not limited by age, or occupation. It only knows something terrible happened to survivors of whatever caused it to enter their lives.

The truth is, most groups are only helping veterans with PTSD. Some are doing a great job for the right reasons and have a team in place to take care of the needs of the veterans seeking them out. They are not the ones getting the most attention. The ones with the money to bankroll advertising get the attention. The good groups do the best they can with what support they receive.

When so many are suffering with PTSD, instead of healing as survivors of the cause of it, this harvest field is overgrown because there are not enough workers to tend to all of them.

The Workers Are Few
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:35-37

And the field keeps growing far beyond what our eyes can see.

The front lines of mental health start in a person’s mind and body. Depending on the day, external stressors, resources or medication, that landscape gets smoother or rockier to navigate.

But it doesn’t end there.

The front lines shift and intersect in many environments: It can be a classroom or office, a hospital or church, a jail or shelter. Ultimately what begins as a personal experience ripples through a whole community, affecting not just the person experiencing mental health issues but their families, friends and neighbors.

And while we all have mental health (just like we have physical health), some live with mental illness, a wide range of conditions spanning mood disorders, addiction, PTSD and more. (The Seattle Times)

They can't keep up withthe need it Colorado.

DENVER (KDVR) — Mental health providers are noticing an increase in demand for services, far beyond what they experienced at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A recent survey from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing found 78% of behavioral health organizations reported seeing an increase in demand over the past three months. A majority said their waitlists are growing and nearly all respondents said they’re having trouble recruiting employees.

“We’re trying to see as many people as we can, but I don’t see it slowing down,” said Dr. Liz Chamberlain, a licensed psychologist at the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.

Look up what is happening in your own state and see how overloaded the mental health system is in your own location.

Nothing will change until we change the conversation to include all humans trying to heal as survivors. We need to change the conversation we have with them, as much as we need to change the conversation we have with the lawmakers and reporters, or nothing will change. 

'Mental health is health. Period.'

'Mental health is health. Period.' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin decries stigma in message to troops

USA TODAY
Tom Vanden Brook
July 26, 2021

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed deep concern about suicide among troops during a visit to U.S. forces stationed in Alaska where there has been an alarming spike in those deaths.

At least six soldiers have died by probable suicide in Alaska since Dec. 30, and suicide is suspected in several others, USA TODAY has reported. That surge has followed several years of increases in suicide deaths among troops across the armed services.

In 2018, 326 active-duty troops died by suicide, with the toll increasing to 350 in 2019 and 385 in 2020, according to the most recent Pentagon figures. The number of suicide deaths fluctuates over time as investigations establish the cause of death.
read more here

'He deserves to have justice': In memory of their son, parents fight for mental health services in the military

Arizona Republic
Andrew Favakeh
July 15, 2021

Brandon Caserta was one of 325 active-duty service members who died by suicide in 2018, and one of 68 sailors, according to military data. Suicides have risen since then. In 2019, 348 active-duty service members died by suicide. In 2020, that number rose to 377.

Teri and Patrick Caserta bought a new car and drove it from Peoria to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 2019.

They scheduled appointments with members of Congress and went door to door through Capitol office buildings to gain support for the Brandon Act, a bill they created in honor of their son.

Brandon Caserta died by suicide three years ago while stationed in the Navy in Norfolk, Virginia.

He could not get the help he needed. Normally, sailors have to report their mental health issues to their commanding officer, who then initiates the referral. Or, if sailors do bypass normal routine and report straight to a mental health official, that mental health official has an obligation to tell their commanding officers.

If a service member mentions the Brandon Act, that would be the safe phrase that would trigger a confidential referral for mental health treatment. Service members who experience mental health issues would receive care without having to notify their command.
read more here

Open Library has the copy of the illegal For The Love Of Jack

Open Library has the copy of the illegal For The Love Of Jack book that was stolen from me back in 2005~

Top that off with what they have written under the top section that has nothing to do with this book! I own the copyright on this!

This is the book that the publisher stole, would not pay me for and would not remove. They would not take any responsibility for any of this and all these years later, I am still seeing it show up all over the net!

Do not buy this book or read it if it has this blue cover.  This is the legal one I had to republish on Amazon!

UPDATE from PTSD Patrol
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 6, 2021

Cross posted on Wounded Times

No matter how many times people walked away from you, one day someone will help you. One day someone will show you the way and stand by your side until you get to where you need to be. Then you will become that "someone" for someone else. Don't give up. Don't give in. Fight like hell because you are worth it!

If you were not, then I wouldn't have been doing this work for almost 40 years with all the crap I have to go through to do the right thing. No matter what I faced, you were worth it!

Today there almost wasn't a video. I didn't have it in me to do one. I was actually online looking for something for myself. I discovered my work stolen again. It happens to me all the time and I am powerless to stop them from doing it. Sometimes they will put my name on it, other times they won't but for some reason they think they can just take it without my knowledge or permission.

I found the video that put into words exactly what I was feeling and it helped. It is from Five Finger Death Punch, Darkness Settles In. When I heard these lines, I cried. The thing is, it just got uploaded 15 hours ago!

It's like I'm holding all the aces

But I know I'll never win

Waiting for someone to save me

But everyone just runs away

The people I know who would help me, cannot help me on this. The ones who can help, I reach out to but they are not interested in helping me at all. The thing is, I am on the right side of this, doing the work for the right reasons and nothing is going to stop me. Screw the bastards. I know one day will come and they will be seen for who and what they truly are. I may not be alive to see it but I know I have the power over what I do and no one can take that way.

If you have PTSD then you know what it is like to tell death "screw you" and you lived because your life was worth it to you. You had no control over what happened but have the power to change what comes now. I'll be damned if I let the darkness settle in on my life. Don't let it settle in on your life either.

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Darkness Settles In

Five Finger Death Punch 

Another sun sets down behind me

Another day comes crashing in

There's a whispering wind that's blowing

There's a storm that's closing in

I can hear the trains, they're rolling

To a place I've never been

And I can feel her breath beside me

With an empty glass of gin

As the darkness settles in

I can hear her voice again

I can hear your voice again

Waiting for someone to save me

But everyone just runs away

Waiting for someone to change me

But no one ever comes

I'm breaking down the walls that cage me

But nothing ever falls in place

Waiting for the end to take me

Blinded by the sun

All the ghosts that live inside me

Always waiting in the wind

I can see through my reflection

What I've become and what I've been

You see, your Heaven doesn't want me

And your Hell won't let me in

It's like I'm holding all the aces

But I know I'll never win

Waiting for someone to save me

But everyone just runs away

Waiting for someone to change me

But no one ever comes

I'm breaking down the walls that cage me

But nothing ever falls in place

Waiting for the end to take me

Blinded by the sun

You can take it away, tear it all down

Spit in my face, pushed to the ground

Look what I've become

I've fallen from grace, bloodied and bound

Taking up space, lost and I'm found

Look what I've become

I can hear the snakes, they're winding

Singing songs of pain and sin

There's an anger overflowing

From this empty glass of gin

As the darkness settles in

And the darkness settles in

Waiting for someone to save me

But everyone just runs away

Waiting for someone to change me

But no one ever comes

I'm breaking down the walls that cage me

But nothing ever falls in place

Waiting for the end to take me

Blinded by the sun

And the darkness settles in

(You can take it away)

And the darkness settles in

(You can take it away)

As the darkness settles in

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Ivan Moody / Zoltan Bathory / Kevin Churko / Jason Hook

Darkness Settles In lyrics © Gumpofwump 

Storytellers Project "Bouncing back. Recovering. Getting help..."

Storytellers Project to stream show about never giving up

USA Today
Michelle Rogers
June 5, 2020 

The USA TODAY Network's Storytellers Project will stream the show, part of its virtual season, at 8 p.m. EST on Thursday, June 11.

Bouncing back. Recovering. Getting help and getting on with it.

The Storytellers Project will celebrate resiliency in all of its forms during a show on June 11 from the USA TODAY Network.

“For so many reasons, now feels like a time when we could use stories of meaningful resilience in the face of adversity of all kinds,” said Megan Finnerty, founder and director of the Storytellers Project. “We are so fortunate to have storytellers willing to be vulnerable, and honest.”

The series, called “LIVE, In Your House," has been drawing hundreds of thousands of views since debuting April 2, when the COVID-19 pandemic started closing down venues where in-person shows had been held across the country. Shows are now streamed on the Storytellers Project’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
read it here

Military children should not have problem joining after seeking help

Military children shouldn’t be penalized for seeking mental health care, senators say

Military Times

Karen Jowers

June 2, 2020

The proposal would require the service surgeons general to give “liberal consideration” to children raised in a military family, because of the potential challenges of military family life, when deciding whether to grant a waiver allowing them to join the military despite prior mental health conditions. It the waiver is denied, a mental health provider would have to review the request.

Army Lt. Col. Rudy De La Rosa with his daughter Samantha, who graduated from Air Force basic military training in May, 2019. She successfully fought to overcome notations in her dependent medical record that initially kept her out of the military. (Photo courtesy of De La Rosa family)

Senators are seeking to end “undue discrimination” against military dependents and civilians with prior mental health conditions who seek to enter the military.

“Children who face the stress of parents being deployed, moving frequently and other sacrifices should never be penalized for seeking mental health care,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who introduced legislation in May, along with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

read it here 

Coronavirus frontline workers getting help from mental health clinicians

Michigan clinicians offer mental health resources to coronavirus frontline workers

Click Detroit
Cassidy Johncox, Web Producer
Sarah Parlette, Associated Producer
Published: April 18, 2020

Clinicians from Michigan are joining forces to help individuals through these crises, especially those who are still working every day during the pandemic.

Mental health professionals in Michigan are coming together to provide support and resources to frontline workers amid the escalating coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The pandemic is negatively affecting the mental health of most, according to behavioral science experts.

Long-term health effects will likely ripple across all age groups, including sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, PTSD, substance abuse, relapse and suicides, experts said. The pandemic’s impact on mental health could result in a 10-20% increase in demand for mental health services, according to officials.

Clinicians from Michigan are joining forces to help individuals through these crises, especially those who are still working every day during the pandemic.

MI Frontline Support (MIFS) is a new initiative organized by local clinicians to provide crisis- and coping-related resources to frontline workers in the state. MIFS creators have a loose definition of “frontline workers”, which includes health care workers and first responders as well as those working in grocery stores, delivery and mail services, the media and more.
read it here

After I recorded this video I was thinking about all the others who are healers and protectors in isolation right now because they were exposed to COVID-19 on the job, or prevented from doing their work for other reasons. It hits us even harder because our mission on this earth is to help other people. When we cannot do it, it crushes our soul.

Healers and protectors

Voices unite to fight mental health crisis

Mental health crisis: We must speak with one powerful voice in 2020

The Hill
BY FORMER REP. PATRICK KENNEDY (D-R.I.), OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
01/13/20

The systemic change we need to address our nation’s mental health crisis truly will not happen unless families, advocates, providers, and policymakers unite in support of a roadmap for change — and demand action from elected leaders.

For many, the start of a new year represents a clean slate — a chance to take stock of what truly matters in life and course correct in search of a better path.

Human resiliency is a powerful thing. Mental health and addiction professionals often say it’s why they do what they do. People can recover from their challenges and go on to lead productive, meaningful lives.

But resiliency alone is not enough for the one in six Californians who have a mental health condition or the 2.7 million Californians who meet the criteria for a substance use disorder. Access to quality, evidence-based care, and community support are equally as important.

However, as Californians know all too well, such care and support are not always easy to come by, often leading to tragic outcomes. Overdose deaths from opioids and methamphetamines continue to devastate families across the state. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for Californians age 18-34.

Jails and prisons serve as de facto “treatment centers” for some, and homelessness has hit epidemic proportions, primarily due to a combination of untreated mental health and substance use disorders and California’s affordable housing crisis.

Many who seek care using private health insurance face enormous roadblocks. A recent report by the actuarial firm Milliman found huge out-of-network utilization disparities between mental health/addiction and medical/surgical care for inpatient facilities, outpatient facilities, and office visits.

This means insured individuals are paying more out-of-pocket for mental health/addiction care than they are for medical care — mostly because health plans continue to reimburse mental health/addiction providers far less than their primary care/specialist counterparts, causing those providers to stop accepting insurance altogether.
read it here

Take the time to add your voice to this fight! I did! Go to Mental Health For US

DOD tells troops to seek help for PTSD to prevent suicides?

DOD Officials Urge Troops to Seek Mental Health Help Without Fear

Department of Defense
BY C. TODD LOPEZ
May 28, 2019

''It really speaks to ... interaction with those line commanders,'' Colston said. ''That's vitally important, and really getting a pulse of the unit.''

Soldiers from Fort Carson, Colo. watch troop movements during Exercise Green Flag West 13-2 at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., Nov. 7, 2012.

In 2018, more than 320 active duty service members committed suicide. Among reserve component service members, 144 did the same. One lawmaker called it ''an epidemic.''

One problem that may contribute to suicide numbers is a reticence to seek assistance from mental health providers due to fears that such help may damage careers, especially when it comes to security clearances. But that fear is unfounded, one defense leader told lawmakers May 21.

''We absolutely need to get the word out that it's almost impossible to lose your security clearance from endorsing a mental health history on your SF-86 question 21,'' said Navy Capt. (Dr.) Mike Colston, the Defense Department's director of mental health policy and oversight. ''We really have data — [this has happened to] a couple dozen out of nearly 10 million security clearances,'' Colston said. ''So when we look at the process of 'Let's get down to the data,' are we going to kick you out for having a mental health condition? Probably not.''

Elizabeth P. Van Winkle, executive director of DOD's Office of Force Resiliency, told lawmakers during the joint hearing of the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on military personnel and the House Veterans Affairs Committee's health subcommittee that solving suicide is a shared challenge in both the military and civilian societies.
read more here

As of the 3rd quarter of 2018, according to the DOD, there were 231 suicides among "active" and 144 among reserves. The numbers do not add up. So far, the report for all of 2018 has not been found, but I will keep looking because the DOD is mandated by Congress to provide the reports. Wonder if they ever figured out what we knew back in 2009? Safe bet they did not since they kept doing it.