When veterans return, their children also deal with invisible wounds of war
Washington Post
By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
April 16, 2015
In Atlanta, Christian Aguilar, 10, has watched his father, an Iraq Army veteran, be loaded into an ambulance more than a dozen times. He hugs his teachers so often — sometimes 17 times a day — that he’s now receiving therapy for “secondary PTSD,” a common diagnosis for the children of veterans.Retired Marine Cpl. Donny Daughenbaugh, who suffers from memory loss, stands with daughter Gabby, 11.
(Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
HARTFORD, Conn. — Twice a day, Koen Hughes’s medicine alarm beeps and sputters. He yells out across the kitchen to his father, retired Army Staff Sgt. Jonah Hughes, an Iraq war veteran, who suffers from such a severe brain injury that it’s hard for him to remember things like whether he showered, and sometimes how to shower.
Koen is always there, reminding him to take his anti-seizure pills, nervously double-checking his medicine box and squinting as he monitors his father’s behavior.
Koen is 10.
“Daaad! Your medicine!” pants a frantic Koen, who has a mop of light-brown hair and loves geography, Legos and Indiana Jones.
His burly 38-year-old father wears a black Wounded Warriors T-shirt and pocket pants, and speaks slowly, softly, searching for words his brain has lost.
“Got it,” he answers.
He’s what Koen calls a “wounded parent.” And, the boy says, lowering his blue eyes to the ground, “It’s different than having other kinds of parents.”
In households nationwide, hundreds of thousands of wounded parents have come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their children are struggling to navigate the invisible wounds — traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder, which together afflict an estimated 30 percent of the 2.7 million former troops.
read more here
Showing posts with label secondary PTSD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label secondary PTSD. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2015
War Came Home to Families
It doesn't matter which war they came home from. The truth is, the whole family is part of all of it. My daughter was raised knowing what PTSD is and it was still hard on her. This is a powerful reminder whenever you read stories here, there are usually a lot more people involved in the story you never hear enough about.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Air National Guard Chaplain Talks About Compassion Fatigue
Veterans and 'The Things They Carry'
Post Courier
Norris Burkes
Air National Guard Chaplain
Nov 2 2014
Note to readers: In writing this column, I'm grateful for the inspiration I received from reading Tim O'Brien's Vietnam memoir, "The Things They Carried."
In May 2009, after serving four months as the chaplain for the Air Force field hospital in Balad, Iraq, I checked five pieces of luggage onto the military charter flight that would carry me home.
The five bags were heavy with my uniforms, mementos and military gear. As we approach another Veteran's Day, however, I'm becoming more aware that I carried some unseen baggage, too.
For instance, I was carrying the weight of a job undone. It felt undone because my four-month chaplain rotation was out of sync with the six-month deployment of the hospital staff. I was returning alone while many remained. There were moments where I felt more like a deserter than a returning vet.
Like most vets, I was worried about friends I left behind. I felt much like the only Marine I saw cry during my deployment; she was sent home with a broken ankle and her tears weren't from physical pain, but from the spiritual pain of leaving her squad.
read more here
Post Courier
Norris Burkes
Air National Guard Chaplain
Nov 2 2014
"From all of that, the VA doctor told me I was likely carrying secondary traumatic stress (STS), more commonly called "compassion fatigue." STS is a condition characterized by the gradual decrease of one's ability to show compassion. It's a common side effect for those who care for the injured and dying; STS takes a lot out of one's psyche and soul, so now there's a name for it."
Note to readers: In writing this column, I'm grateful for the inspiration I received from reading Tim O'Brien's Vietnam memoir, "The Things They Carried."
In May 2009, after serving four months as the chaplain for the Air Force field hospital in Balad, Iraq, I checked five pieces of luggage onto the military charter flight that would carry me home.
The five bags were heavy with my uniforms, mementos and military gear. As we approach another Veteran's Day, however, I'm becoming more aware that I carried some unseen baggage, too.
For instance, I was carrying the weight of a job undone. It felt undone because my four-month chaplain rotation was out of sync with the six-month deployment of the hospital staff. I was returning alone while many remained. There were moments where I felt more like a deserter than a returning vet.
Like most vets, I was worried about friends I left behind. I felt much like the only Marine I saw cry during my deployment; she was sent home with a broken ankle and her tears weren't from physical pain, but from the spiritual pain of leaving her squad.
read more here
Friday, May 30, 2014
PTSD Discussion to Spouses of Sufferers
NBC 5 Expands PTSD Discussion to Spouses of Sufferers
NBC 5
By Meredith Land
Thursday, May 29, 2014
We are looking at a completely different side to post-traumatic stress disorder.
As a news organization, NBC 5 has reported on PTSD and its effects on service members. Now, we're expanding the discussion by talking with the spouses of PTSD sufferers — courageous women who chose to speak publicly about supporting their husbands after deployment and the affects their spouse's condition has had on their families.
Jeremy Lanning, a psychotherapist in Fort Worth at The LifeWorks Group, is helping women who suffer with what he refers to as "secondary trauma."
"The idea of having group work is you can highlight people's successes," Lanning said.
Lanning connects complete strangers, Like DJ Jacobson and April Cantrell. They bond and share their coping strategies.
"If you talk to any service members or anyone who suffers from PTSD, one of the biggest things for them is that all their behaviors and actions are taken personally," Lanning said.
In these intense group therapy sessions, Lanning gives them a tray of sand and tiny toys. He told them to illustrate their lives.
Cantrell, who has been married for seven years creates hers first.
"I met a fireman and his son. Everything was really good. We got married, had small animals, then he went over to Iraq," Cantrell said.
Jacobson, married 32 years, does the same. Instantly the women, who rarely talk about living with PTSD sufferers relate.
"If we get off the path we are supposed to go, it causes everything to fall apart," Jacobson said.
"Yeah, I am kind of in my own little world here," Cantrell agrees.
Emotions in these sessions run high. Cantrell cries when she describes the journey she and her husband have been on since he return from Iraq.
read more here
NBC 5
By Meredith Land
Thursday, May 29, 2014
We are looking at a completely different side to post-traumatic stress disorder.
As a news organization, NBC 5 has reported on PTSD and its effects on service members. Now, we're expanding the discussion by talking with the spouses of PTSD sufferers — courageous women who chose to speak publicly about supporting their husbands after deployment and the affects their spouse's condition has had on their families.
Jeremy Lanning, a psychotherapist in Fort Worth at The LifeWorks Group, is helping women who suffer with what he refers to as "secondary trauma."
"The idea of having group work is you can highlight people's successes," Lanning said.
Lanning connects complete strangers, Like DJ Jacobson and April Cantrell. They bond and share their coping strategies.
"If you talk to any service members or anyone who suffers from PTSD, one of the biggest things for them is that all their behaviors and actions are taken personally," Lanning said.
In these intense group therapy sessions, Lanning gives them a tray of sand and tiny toys. He told them to illustrate their lives.
Cantrell, who has been married for seven years creates hers first.
"I met a fireman and his son. Everything was really good. We got married, had small animals, then he went over to Iraq," Cantrell said.
Jacobson, married 32 years, does the same. Instantly the women, who rarely talk about living with PTSD sufferers relate.
"If we get off the path we are supposed to go, it causes everything to fall apart," Jacobson said.
"Yeah, I am kind of in my own little world here," Cantrell agrees.
Emotions in these sessions run high. Cantrell cries when she describes the journey she and her husband have been on since he return from Iraq.
read more here
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
‘We Have PTSD’: Wife of Veteran Shares Experiences
‘We Have PTSD’: Wife of Veteran Shares Experiences
By ABC News
Mar 31, 2014
This post by Blair Hughes originally appeared on www.warriorsandwives.com
I am the wife of a Iraq veteran with PTSD. For some, like my husband Jonah, the anxiety is so overwhelming and debilitating that we are considered “housebound.”
Oh, you noticed I said “we?”
Yes, that’s because I have PTSD, too.
I have a condition known as Secondary PTSD.
After three deployments and 10 IED blasts, my husband has several other injuries and I am his full-time caregiver. As a caregiver, I with him pretty much 24/7. I have adopted a constant sort of vigilance in order to predict and pre-empt my husband’s PTSD behaviors. Knowing the symptoms and his reaction to “trigger situations” inside and out is key to our survival, so much so that many of these symptoms become my reality, as well. Anxiety, extreme discomfort in crowds, hyper-vigilance and isolation just to name a few.
We try. We really do try to go outside our comfort zone. But when we do we often have a massive, far longer than normal, recovery period. A simple trip out to eat at an uncrowded restaurant, during a super slow time often results in the need for an afternoon in bed. If we do happen to venture out on a good day, during “normal” shopping hours, it’s very likely we end up two steps back from where we were.
Often, we have to use grocery delivery services. We pay for Amazon Prime (thank God for their Two-Day shipping!) because during a bad spell — when you just cannot leave the house for days at a time — sometimes you still need toilet paper.
read more here
By ABC News
Mar 31, 2014
This post by Blair Hughes originally appeared on www.warriorsandwives.com
I am the wife of a Iraq veteran with PTSD. For some, like my husband Jonah, the anxiety is so overwhelming and debilitating that we are considered “housebound.”
Oh, you noticed I said “we?”
Yes, that’s because I have PTSD, too.
I have a condition known as Secondary PTSD.
After three deployments and 10 IED blasts, my husband has several other injuries and I am his full-time caregiver. As a caregiver, I with him pretty much 24/7. I have adopted a constant sort of vigilance in order to predict and pre-empt my husband’s PTSD behaviors. Knowing the symptoms and his reaction to “trigger situations” inside and out is key to our survival, so much so that many of these symptoms become my reality, as well. Anxiety, extreme discomfort in crowds, hyper-vigilance and isolation just to name a few.
We try. We really do try to go outside our comfort zone. But when we do we often have a massive, far longer than normal, recovery period. A simple trip out to eat at an uncrowded restaurant, during a super slow time often results in the need for an afternoon in bed. If we do happen to venture out on a good day, during “normal” shopping hours, it’s very likely we end up two steps back from where we were.
Often, we have to use grocery delivery services. We pay for Amazon Prime (thank God for their Two-Day shipping!) because during a bad spell — when you just cannot leave the house for days at a time — sometimes you still need toilet paper.
read more here
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Helping Children Cope with Secondary PTSD
Guest Post
Helping Children Cope with Secondary PTSD
It has been long recognized that family members of combat veterans who develop PTSD may also display the characteristics of the disorder. This has been referred to as vicarious PTSD or secondary PTSD. For children who look to adults for support and care as well as help making sense of what is often already a confusing world, adjusting to the stresses associated with having a parent in the military – in particular one who exhibits PTSD symptoms – is especially difficult to cope with.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children in military families are frequently exposed to a variety of stressors which they have labeled “toxic.” The National Center for Child Traumatic Stress points out that the children of enlisted parents have to cope with unpredictable deployment and issues related to reintegration when the parent returns home. When the parent is career military, this process repeats itself, leading to uncertainty for the child as well as the remaining parent. As this parent can’t provide the ability to better predict when the other parent may be leaving or returning, the child has no foundation to rely upon and may become confused and fearful.
Additionally, the remaining parent is often overwhelmed by the increased responsibility they are required to shoulder or by having to act as a single parent on little to no notice. This can cause the remaining parent to become less accessible to the child as they struggle with the increased burden. The fear of losing the parent due to their repeat absence or to death, decreased attention from the remaining parent, and frequent moves and loss of friends can lead to a sense of abandonment in the child, a sense that they have no one to turn to for answers, and feelings of isolation from other children.
While children are normally excited to have a parent return home after a deployment, this excitement can turn to dismay and distress when this parent is suffering from acute stress or PTSD. When already at increased vulnerability due to the other stressors they’ve encountered as part of a military family, it is not infrequent that these children may begin to exhibit some of the same symptoms as the parent.
How Might Combat Related PTSD Symptoms in a Parent Affect a Child?
Combat veterans suffering from PTSD often exhibit symptoms that can affect or even potentially traumatize their child. Probably the most frightening of these is when the parent re-experiences combat related situations through nightmares, during which they may scream and even enact the dream, or daytime flashbacks during which the individual perceives everything around them as if they are back in combat. This can be terrifying for the child who doesn’t understand what is happening to their parent.
People with PTSD also attempt to avoid anything that might remind them of their experiences and thus trigger a strong memory or flashback. Since almost anything can serve as a trigger – a color matching their uniform, an ad for the brand of cigarette they were smoking at the time of the trauma, the smell of aftershave they were wearing at the time of an attack – they can’t predict when they might come into contact with something that will elicit a flashback or other negative response. This means they stop going places, stop taking their family to the movies, out for pizza, shopping, or practically anywhere else. While they are only attempting to avoid coming into contact with any triggers, the child thinks the parent doesn’t want to spend time with them, eventually coming to believe there must be something wrong with them or else their parent wouldn’t reject them. Those suffering from PTSD also tend to have a high level of arousal and to be extremely irritable. They can unintentionally lash out in anger if startled or feeling anxious without recognizing it, leaving the child wondering what they have done to make their parent no longer love them. Since the child can’t predict when their parent may exhibit any of these behaviors, and over time may come to experience them as traumatic when they do occur, they may go on to develop symptoms of PTSD in reaction to the way they experience their parent’s PTSD.
What Can Parents Do to Help Their Children if they are Display Symptoms of Secondary PTSD?
If you or your partner are experiencing the symptoms of PTSD, the first step is to get treatment so you are able to control your symptoms in front of your child and overtime get rid of them. It’s important for parents to work together to help their child learn to deal with stress and understand the nature of why their parent may display confusing behaviors.
Remember that your child may already be vulnerable to the effects of stress in their life, especially stress related to having a parent in the military. When they see either parent displaying signs of excessive anxiety or stress they will quickly react with an escalation of anxiety in response. Make sure you show your child ways you use to manage your stress levels, even explaining how you are coping with your anxiety to reduce it. This will help them understand there are ways to handle their own stress and they will attempt to imitate you, coming to learn effective coping strategies.
Parents can also show children other ways of working through fears and anxiety, such as talking about them in a way that leads to expectations of a positive result. A lot of the escalation of anxiety that occurs in children and their parents is the result of expectations of negative outcomes. Often we get what we expect, such that if we talk about ways that can lead to positive results we can alter our experiences from being predominantly negative to being predominantly positive.
Parents should also commit to specific blocks of time that will be family time— when the whole family spends time doing fun things together. When children feel like parents are making plans that focus on the things they enjoy doing, they will feel truly cared about and important in their parents’ eyes. This will also strengthen the parent-child bond with each parent as well as increase the bond between parents, which is also important in making children feel safe and able to count on their parents for their needs.
The most important thing however, is to make sure you seek treatment for your child if the symptoms seem to be extreme, are worsening instead of improving, or your child simply does not appear to be responding to some of these basic family based strategies. Regardless of whether you feel your child needs profession help or not, these tactics will still serve to strengthen the connections between family members and increase the level of trust individuals feel in relation to each other.
Written by a Certified Trauma Therapist from A Healing Place, a leading treatment center near Ocala, FL for PTSD and issues caused by trauma.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Vietnam veteran's daughter talks about PTSD
Journeying home to tell my truth
By Christal Presley
Special to CNN
December 8, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Author's father was scarred by Vietnam -- and so was she
As a child, she kept secret the way the war tortured her family
Her first book, based on interviews with her dad, helped them both find peace
But the healing was incomplete: She needed to go home to tell her community the truth
I feel unexpectedly calm on the drive back to my hometown, Honaker, Virginia, tucked deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. From my house in Atlanta, it's a 6½-hour trip -- but it's also almost two decades in the making.
I'm going home to tell my truth.
I was 18 when I fled there -- the same age my father was when he was drafted and sent to Vietnam. We both ended up scarred by his war.
My father returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder. He spent much of my childhood locked in his room strumming his guitar, moving between the deepest depression and unspeakable rage. Many times, he threatened to kill himself.
I learned to tread on delicate ground, doing anything and everything not to provoke him, but this dance caused me to become a profoundly disturbed little girl. I acted out in school, engaged in self-mutilation, and couldn't make friends. When teachers asked how my weekend went, I couldn't fathom answering honestly. I felt my classmates and I inhabited completely different worlds.
I didn't know it at the time, but I also was exhibiting symptoms of PTSD.
read more here
By Christal Presley
Special to CNN
December 8, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Author's father was scarred by Vietnam -- and so was she
As a child, she kept secret the way the war tortured her family
Her first book, based on interviews with her dad, helped them both find peace
But the healing was incomplete: She needed to go home to tell her community the truth
Editor's note: After profiling Christal Presley and her decades-long effort to heal from childhood trauma, CNN asked to accompany her on the second part of her journey: To confront the places that still haunted her. This piece is drawn from the journal Presley kept on that trip. The video above depicts her struggles with PTSD.Saturday, November 17, 2012
I feel unexpectedly calm on the drive back to my hometown, Honaker, Virginia, tucked deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. From my house in Atlanta, it's a 6½-hour trip -- but it's also almost two decades in the making.
I'm going home to tell my truth.
I was 18 when I fled there -- the same age my father was when he was drafted and sent to Vietnam. We both ended up scarred by his war.
My father returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder. He spent much of my childhood locked in his room strumming his guitar, moving between the deepest depression and unspeakable rage. Many times, he threatened to kill himself.
I learned to tread on delicate ground, doing anything and everything not to provoke him, but this dance caused me to become a profoundly disturbed little girl. I acted out in school, engaged in self-mutilation, and couldn't make friends. When teachers asked how my weekend went, I couldn't fathom answering honestly. I felt my classmates and I inhabited completely different worlds.
I didn't know it at the time, but I also was exhibiting symptoms of PTSD.
read more here
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Secondary PTSD over diagnosed?
Considering I met my husband way back in 1982, you may be shocked to hear I agree with this study. Why? It is not that I do not believe there is such a thing as "secondary PTSD" since I know what it is like to live with a veteran with PTSD, but it is more I believe the spouses have been able to avoid it by understanding what it is and their role in all of this.
Do wives end up with paying the price for their husbands' service? You bet they do. It isn't just the stress of deployments they are under or the constant worry of the strange car in the driveway, but it is more of a case of basically watching them die inside. The family of a PTSD veteran has to walk on eggshells, never knowing what will set off a situation. Even something as simple as walking up a husband in the middle of a nightmare can produce a black eye or bloody nose if it is not done right. There is constant stress until they begin to heal. By that time, most wives have figured out what works and what doesn't. Now, we can hang onto anger and hurt feelings and allow them to eat away whatever happiness we should have, or we can understand it enough to be able to forgive and find our own kind of normal to live a happier life together.
Keep in mind this does take two to do it. There are many spouses actually being abused, physically and emotionally. If they have no clue what's going on, it is like living in hell. The kids pay the price as well. Emotional roller coasters are not much fun at all for anyone even if there isn't any kind of abuse.
Living with PTSD can be depressing to the point where we don't eat, don't sleep and some will stop doing things they enjoyed. We go to work, hear other wives complain about stupid silly things and we wish we had their problems instead of facing what we will go home to. I remember those darks days well but maybe I'm one of the lucky ones since I knew all along what PTSD was and what it was doing to my husband.
Over the years I've met a lot of other wives with stories worse than what I had been through and many of them ended up having to bury their husband because of suicides no one wanted to talk about at the time. Support was no where to be found for them, so they had to do it on their own. When I say older wives had nothing, consider the Internet was not around until the 90's.
Today a spouse, female or male, has the ability to find a lot of support out there and a means to heal the family.
I went to see a psychologist even knowing what I knew because the stress caused me to actually feel angry. I'm the type of person slow to anger, and if I get angry, I blow then get over it. I was at a point where I couldn't let go of it. I saw a psychologist for several months fully aware of what PTSD was and talking to her because she understood helped me more than anything else could at the time. I strongly suggest that to avoid "secondary PTSD" a spouse needs to find a support group with people knowing what life is like for her/him.
If this turns out to be a story with a twist and it is under-diagnosed as later suggested in this article, then the need to have support for the spouse can no longer be dismissed.
When none of us get the support and help we need to heal from combat, it all goes beyond our front door and will carry on for generations.
Do wives end up with paying the price for their husbands' service? You bet they do. It isn't just the stress of deployments they are under or the constant worry of the strange car in the driveway, but it is more of a case of basically watching them die inside. The family of a PTSD veteran has to walk on eggshells, never knowing what will set off a situation. Even something as simple as walking up a husband in the middle of a nightmare can produce a black eye or bloody nose if it is not done right. There is constant stress until they begin to heal. By that time, most wives have figured out what works and what doesn't. Now, we can hang onto anger and hurt feelings and allow them to eat away whatever happiness we should have, or we can understand it enough to be able to forgive and find our own kind of normal to live a happier life together.
Keep in mind this does take two to do it. There are many spouses actually being abused, physically and emotionally. If they have no clue what's going on, it is like living in hell. The kids pay the price as well. Emotional roller coasters are not much fun at all for anyone even if there isn't any kind of abuse.
Living with PTSD can be depressing to the point where we don't eat, don't sleep and some will stop doing things they enjoyed. We go to work, hear other wives complain about stupid silly things and we wish we had their problems instead of facing what we will go home to. I remember those darks days well but maybe I'm one of the lucky ones since I knew all along what PTSD was and what it was doing to my husband.
Over the years I've met a lot of other wives with stories worse than what I had been through and many of them ended up having to bury their husband because of suicides no one wanted to talk about at the time. Support was no where to be found for them, so they had to do it on their own. When I say older wives had nothing, consider the Internet was not around until the 90's.
Today a spouse, female or male, has the ability to find a lot of support out there and a means to heal the family.
I went to see a psychologist even knowing what I knew because the stress caused me to actually feel angry. I'm the type of person slow to anger, and if I get angry, I blow then get over it. I was at a point where I couldn't let go of it. I saw a psychologist for several months fully aware of what PTSD was and talking to her because she understood helped me more than anything else could at the time. I strongly suggest that to avoid "secondary PTSD" a spouse needs to find a support group with people knowing what life is like for her/him.
If this turns out to be a story with a twist and it is under-diagnosed as later suggested in this article, then the need to have support for the spouse can no longer be dismissed.
When none of us get the support and help we need to heal from combat, it all goes beyond our front door and will carry on for generations.
Study: Secondary PTSD Overdiagnosed
May 31, 2011
Military.com|by Amy Bushatz
More than half of military spouses who think they are suffering from secondary PTSD symptoms may have been misdiagnosed, a new study finds.
"A lot of times, people see a spouse that's distressed and say it's secondary PTSD," said Keith Renshaw, a psychology professor at George Mason University who authored the study. "There's kind of an over-assumption that this is prevalent, and that anything and everything that comes up for a spouse is due to that."
Secondary post-traumatic stress disorder has become a common catch-all label in the military community for the intense stress many spouses feel while living with a veteran suffering from PTSD. Unlike caretaker stress or stress from traumatic events in their own lives, secondary PTSD has sudden, specific characteristics including vivid dreams about the servicemember's traumatic event or avoiding reminders of that event, Renshaw said.
The study, due for release this fall, found that up to 41 percent of the 190 spouses it surveyed had symptoms similar to those linked with secondary PTSD. But when questioned further, only about 15 percent of respondents pointed to their husbands' military experience as the sole cause for their stress -- a key trait of secondary PTSD.
The popularity of the term "secondary PTSD" may have been caused by the desire among spouses to give a name to the feelings they are experiencing, Renshaw said. But without mental health expertise to sort through their issues, spouses can easily misidentify their symptoms -- a mistake that may lead to improper treatment, he said.
read more here
Secondary PTSD Overdiagnosed
Friday, April 1, 2011
Secondary Posttraumatic Stress Population Gets Support
PTSD Caregivers: Secondary Posttraumatic Stress Population Gets Support
Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST.
West Palm, FL, April 01, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Studies estimate over 5% of all Americans struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at any given time. That means the number of PTSD caregivers is roughly equal, or larger, as the caregiver role can land on more than one person in a PTSD family. Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST. Facilitated by www.healmyptsd.com founder, PTSD Coach and PTSD survivor, Michele Rosenthal, these hourlong teleseminars will provide a place for PTSD caregivers to find community, connection and creativity in how to manage the posttrauamtic stress caregiver role.
Conducted via a telephone conference line, these groups will focus on topics unique to the PTSD caregiver perspective, including how to:
Each monthly call will offer a thirty minute presentation on an important PTSD caregiver topic and then incorporate thirty minutes of a group discussion so that participants can ask personal PTSD questions, talk to each other, avoid secondary posttraumatic stress and receive one-on-one coaching around specific issues.
“The unique challenge of PTSD caregivers is figuring out how to take care of themselves while also supporting their PTSD loved one. Plus, the confusion about symptoms of posttraumatic stress – and the lack of defined PTSD treatment – can make the caregiver role overwhelming,” says Rosenthal. “Our goal is to help bring clarity to caregivers so that they can maintain their own grounded lives while making good decisions and taking strong actions to help their PTSD loved one.”
After struggling with PTSD for over twenty-five years, Rosenthal, a Certified Professional Coach, is now 100% free of PTSD symptoms. Her work with survivors and caregivers includes individual clients and groups. She continues, “PTSD symptoms are universal, regardless of the individual trauma. In the same way, the PTSD caregiver experience is universal, too. This means every caregiver can teach and also learn by interacting in a strong, nurturing and supportive community.”
For more information about the Heal My PTSD Caregiver Teleseminar Series, visit: Heal My PTSD Teleseminar
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a wholly treatable condition that results from a life-threatening experience in which the trauma survivor felt helpless. PTSD symptoms include insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, hyperarousal and hypervigilance.
Michele Rosenthal is a trauma survivor who struggled with undiagnosed PTSD for twenty-four years. And then she was diagnosed and went on a healing rampage. A PTSD Coach and passionate advocate, she founded www.healmyptsd.com to provide information about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, treatment and support. The site contains several complimentary resources including downloads, teleseminars, a healing workshop, and monthly radio programs.
Contact: Michele@healmyptsd.com, 561.531.1405.
For more information: Heal My PTSD.com
Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST.
West Palm, FL, April 01, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Studies estimate over 5% of all Americans struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at any given time. That means the number of PTSD caregivers is roughly equal, or larger, as the caregiver role can land on more than one person in a PTSD family. Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST. Facilitated by www.healmyptsd.com founder, PTSD Coach and PTSD survivor, Michele Rosenthal, these hourlong teleseminars will provide a place for PTSD caregivers to find community, connection and creativity in how to manage the posttrauamtic stress caregiver role.
Conducted via a telephone conference line, these groups will focus on topics unique to the PTSD caregiver perspective, including how to:
· understand PTSD symptoms
· practice stress reduction techniques
· balance caregiving and living
· choose Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment options
· talk to your PTSD loved one
· help your PTSD loved one learn how to manage and cope with symptoms
· avoid caregiver burn out
Each monthly call will offer a thirty minute presentation on an important PTSD caregiver topic and then incorporate thirty minutes of a group discussion so that participants can ask personal PTSD questions, talk to each other, avoid secondary posttraumatic stress and receive one-on-one coaching around specific issues.
“The unique challenge of PTSD caregivers is figuring out how to take care of themselves while also supporting their PTSD loved one. Plus, the confusion about symptoms of posttraumatic stress – and the lack of defined PTSD treatment – can make the caregiver role overwhelming,” says Rosenthal. “Our goal is to help bring clarity to caregivers so that they can maintain their own grounded lives while making good decisions and taking strong actions to help their PTSD loved one.”
After struggling with PTSD for over twenty-five years, Rosenthal, a Certified Professional Coach, is now 100% free of PTSD symptoms. Her work with survivors and caregivers includes individual clients and groups. She continues, “PTSD symptoms are universal, regardless of the individual trauma. In the same way, the PTSD caregiver experience is universal, too. This means every caregiver can teach and also learn by interacting in a strong, nurturing and supportive community.”
For more information about the Heal My PTSD Caregiver Teleseminar Series, visit: Heal My PTSD Teleseminar
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a wholly treatable condition that results from a life-threatening experience in which the trauma survivor felt helpless. PTSD symptoms include insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, hyperarousal and hypervigilance.
Michele Rosenthal is a trauma survivor who struggled with undiagnosed PTSD for twenty-four years. And then she was diagnosed and went on a healing rampage. A PTSD Coach and passionate advocate, she founded www.healmyptsd.com to provide information about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, treatment and support. The site contains several complimentary resources including downloads, teleseminars, a healing workshop, and monthly radio programs.
Contact: Michele@healmyptsd.com, 561.531.1405.
For more information: Heal My PTSD.com
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Secondary PTSD
The news station did a good job on this but they left out the fact that a lot of times living with someone with out of control PTSD can cause PTSD as well. This isn't new. A lot of Vietnam veteran wives will be able to tell you about their lives and the lives of their kids when the veteran is not helped to heal and they are told what they can do to help.
Secondary PTSD KFDA
AMARILLO, TEXAS - There's a growing mental health concern on the High Plains, but most people have never even heard of it. Many family members and even caretakers of solider's are suffering from the same PTSD symptoms according to several local doctors.
Secondary PTSD also known as compassion fatigue is considered controversial by the American Psychiatric Association, but the group decided to keep it in the upcoming diagnostic manual writing: "There is good evidence that PTSD does occur among people who have learned about the homicide, gruesome death, grotesque details of rape, genocide, or violent abuse of a loved one."
Medical professionals say the worst thing to do in this situation is to ignore the warning signs. Several local doctors say in most cases Secondary PTSD can be treated fully with therapy or medication.
For more about PTSD and it's symptoms visit the VA sponsored, http://www.ptsd.va.gov/
click link for the video report
Secondary PTSD KFDA
AMARILLO, TEXAS - There's a growing mental health concern on the High Plains, but most people have never even heard of it. Many family members and even caretakers of solider's are suffering from the same PTSD symptoms according to several local doctors.
Secondary PTSD also known as compassion fatigue is considered controversial by the American Psychiatric Association, but the group decided to keep it in the upcoming diagnostic manual writing: "There is good evidence that PTSD does occur among people who have learned about the homicide, gruesome death, grotesque details of rape, genocide, or violent abuse of a loved one."
Medical professionals say the worst thing to do in this situation is to ignore the warning signs. Several local doctors say in most cases Secondary PTSD can be treated fully with therapy or medication.
For more about PTSD and it's symptoms visit the VA sponsored, http://www.ptsd.va.gov/
click link for the video report
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Media keeps missing point after Fort Hood
Lowry is close but he's missing the point too. It seems they all are. Major Hasan was trained by the military to address combat trauma for our troops. Keep that in mind. If he kept getting bad reviews for how he treated soldiers, what was he telling them? Did he even know anything about PTSD considering he was trained around the same time they were still kicking out soldiers for "personality disorders" instead of PTSD? Did he end up involved with any of the soldiers who ended up committing suicide or trying to end their own lives?
Secondary PTSD is real. It comes from living with PTSD veterans and even civilian survivors of traumatic events. It can come from the stress of trying to help them too, but if the responders are trained properly, they understand what PTSD is, where it comes from, what their own symptoms are and usually they know what to do to help themselves heal. (I know because I've been there too many times when I end up with nightmares, depression and burn out under stress.) If they are trained they also end up with an arsenal to protect themselves and distance themselves from what they hear. If Hasan does in fact have secondary PTSD, then why didn't anyone see it and treat him for it? He was in mental health for heaven's sake and surrounded by people who were supposed to know how to spot it. Somehow I doubt they could be so inept they wouldn't have a clue this man was not in any kind of right mind to be treating soldiers if this was the case.
The other issue is why was Hasan being deployed if they were already really concerned about his performance? What were they thinking?
Secondary PTSD is real. It comes from living with PTSD veterans and even civilian survivors of traumatic events. It can come from the stress of trying to help them too, but if the responders are trained properly, they understand what PTSD is, where it comes from, what their own symptoms are and usually they know what to do to help themselves heal. (I know because I've been there too many times when I end up with nightmares, depression and burn out under stress.) If they are trained they also end up with an arsenal to protect themselves and distance themselves from what they hear. If Hasan does in fact have secondary PTSD, then why didn't anyone see it and treat him for it? He was in mental health for heaven's sake and surrounded by people who were supposed to know how to spot it. Somehow I doubt they could be so inept they wouldn't have a clue this man was not in any kind of right mind to be treating soldiers if this was the case.
The other issue is why was Hasan being deployed if they were already really concerned about his performance? What were they thinking?
Fort Hood: The PTSD Evasion
By Syndicated columns
November 10, 2009, 6:08AM
By Rich Lowry
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers in a rampage at Fort Hood, is a most unlikely victim of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Rich Lowry He never experienced any combat-related trauma. He had never even been deployed overseas. Yet, he had barely stopped shooting his victims in cold blood, chasing the wounded to finish them off, when the media rushed to their copy of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”
The New York Times headlined an analysis piece on the incident, “When Soldiers Snap.” It reported that in World War II, military doctors believed “that more than 90 days of continuous combat could turn any soldier into a psychiatric causality.” With Hasan, the paper stipulated, “that point may have come even before he experienced the reality of war.”
Time magazine blamed the stressful environment of Fort Hood, where frequent deployments meant “the kindling was hiding in plain sight.” The Washington Post ran a piece on Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Hasan had served, as indicative of “the ongoing tensions, frustrations and problems in the military health-care system for (returning) troops.”
The press keeps mistaking Hasan for Private Ryan, when the closest he’d come to combat was counseling sessions with soldiers. Another New York Times piece raised the possibility that Hasan might have acquired PTSD from the very act of treating those patients -- “in contact distress, of a kind.”
The obsession with PTSD serves two purposes. First, it fits the media’s favorite narrative of soldiers as victims. Here was poor Hasan, brought low like so many others by the unbearable burden of Iraq and Afghanistan. Never mind that PTSD usually results in sleeplessness, flashbacks and -- in the extreme -- suicide. Hasan is the first victim of PTSD known to jump on a table and allegedly yell “Allahu Akbar” while slaughtering his fellow troops.
read more here
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/11/fort_hood_the_ptsd_evasion.html
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Secondhand trauma: Workshop looks at effects of PTSD on loved ones
Secondhand trauma: Workshop looks at effects of PTSD on loved ones
By Cindy Sutter
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
When Beth Grant moved to Boulder a year ago to live with her boyfriend, Ryan Nieto, she began to see a side of him she had never seen before.
"I started to notice that something was affecting him, something was wrong," she says. "There were times where he was withdrawn, times where he kind of shut himself off and pulled back. (I'd think) 'he's mad at me. What did I do wrong?'"
Grant knew her boyfriend was a veteran of the Iraq war. A Marine, he went in with the first wave of troops in 2003 and served six months there. But Grant got to know him after his deployment as a fellow college student in Ventura, Calif. They both got interested in rock climbing, and as the relationship got more serious, decided to move to Boulder and live together. Last year, Nieto began to have trouble sleeping and realized he was depressed, He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Not surprisingly, Nieto's struggles in coming to terms with his war experience began to affect Grant. Many loved ones who are close to veterans have symptoms of what local psychotherapist Trish Dittrick calls Secondary PTSD. It's a phenomenon, sometimes termed empathy fatigue, that has been studied among medical and mental health professionals in the aftermath of traumatic events such as Sept. 11 or Hurricane Katrina. Dittrick will participate in a workshop July 29 on Secondary PTSD, sponsored by Veterans Helping Veterans Now, a local nonprofit in which veterans help other veterans find the services they need. The group also runs a support group for female family members, which gave rise to the workshop.
"There's such a need for families of veterans to get support," Dittrick says. "The talk is meant for veterans and their families."
read more here
Workshop looks at effects of PTSD on loved ones
By Cindy Sutter
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
When Beth Grant moved to Boulder a year ago to live with her boyfriend, Ryan Nieto, she began to see a side of him she had never seen before.
"I started to notice that something was affecting him, something was wrong," she says. "There were times where he was withdrawn, times where he kind of shut himself off and pulled back. (I'd think) 'he's mad at me. What did I do wrong?'"
Grant knew her boyfriend was a veteran of the Iraq war. A Marine, he went in with the first wave of troops in 2003 and served six months there. But Grant got to know him after his deployment as a fellow college student in Ventura, Calif. They both got interested in rock climbing, and as the relationship got more serious, decided to move to Boulder and live together. Last year, Nieto began to have trouble sleeping and realized he was depressed, He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Not surprisingly, Nieto's struggles in coming to terms with his war experience began to affect Grant. Many loved ones who are close to veterans have symptoms of what local psychotherapist Trish Dittrick calls Secondary PTSD. It's a phenomenon, sometimes termed empathy fatigue, that has been studied among medical and mental health professionals in the aftermath of traumatic events such as Sept. 11 or Hurricane Katrina. Dittrick will participate in a workshop July 29 on Secondary PTSD, sponsored by Veterans Helping Veterans Now, a local nonprofit in which veterans help other veterans find the services they need. The group also runs a support group for female family members, which gave rise to the workshop.
"There's such a need for families of veterans to get support," Dittrick says. "The talk is meant for veterans and their families."
read more here
Workshop looks at effects of PTSD on loved ones
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Borrowed Trauma
Borrowed Trauma
Why we relive our patient’s pain & how to avoid it
By Judith Acosta, LISW, CHT
May 2009 JEMS Vol. 34 No. 5
2009 May 1
A patient I had been treating for trauma for about six months sat before me, his hands moving restlessly as he talked, his legs spasmodically bouncing up and down. It had been more than 15 years since J.J. had been a young firefighter, and he was recalling one of his first calls as if it happened yesterday. His anxiety and discomfort were palpable.
He had been barely 20, inexperienced, anxious to do everything right on one of his first major calls. It was a two-story clapboard house with old wiring and pre-code construction. The crew knew an older woman was inside but didn’t know where. The neighbors had seen her before the engines pulled up: She was leaning out of her upstairs bedroom in a blue robe, waving her arms frantically, screaming, but then she disappeared suddenly.
J.J. was one of the first inside. Moving through the still-rising smoke with a limited range of vision through his mask, he walked through the hallway slowly, his eyes focused on the ceiling overhead, a part of which had already fallen. There were piles of smoldering beams, ash and the remains of a table. He stepped to his left around the banister and ... crunch .
He looked down and nearly vomited.
"Don’t move!" his chief, who had been keeping an eye on the rookie, yelled from down the hall. J.J. froze until he got the sign that he should lift his foot back up—slowly—and then step to the right. The chief lifted a charred two-by-four to reveal a small piece of blue robe. It was the only color left in the room besides the yellow stripe along their coats. She had tried to get downstairs herself when the ceiling collapsed on top of her.
As J.J. spoke, I found my posture mirroring his own, my heart rate slightly elevated, and my hands and feet fidgeting more than usual. By the end of the story, I felt as if I had stepped on the woman myself.
I sat still, facing him, and took a deep breath. He had stopped fidgeting. Once again, I saw the pain in his eyes and considered the importance of what had happened. It was the same process that storytellers and listeners have experienced for centuries. The words we use—even in the most ordinary conversations—move us. Not just metaphorically. Literally . The stories we hear don’t just make us frown; they don’t just elicit a good laugh from time to time. They impact us physically. They touch us where we feel it most deeply, sometimes without our permission. It was his trauma, but for a few moments I had all the symptoms of having undergone it myself.
go here for more
Borrowed Trauma
Why we relive our patient’s pain & how to avoid it
By Judith Acosta, LISW, CHT
May 2009 JEMS Vol. 34 No. 5
2009 May 1
A patient I had been treating for trauma for about six months sat before me, his hands moving restlessly as he talked, his legs spasmodically bouncing up and down. It had been more than 15 years since J.J. had been a young firefighter, and he was recalling one of his first calls as if it happened yesterday. His anxiety and discomfort were palpable.
He had been barely 20, inexperienced, anxious to do everything right on one of his first major calls. It was a two-story clapboard house with old wiring and pre-code construction. The crew knew an older woman was inside but didn’t know where. The neighbors had seen her before the engines pulled up: She was leaning out of her upstairs bedroom in a blue robe, waving her arms frantically, screaming, but then she disappeared suddenly.
J.J. was one of the first inside. Moving through the still-rising smoke with a limited range of vision through his mask, he walked through the hallway slowly, his eyes focused on the ceiling overhead, a part of which had already fallen. There were piles of smoldering beams, ash and the remains of a table. He stepped to his left around the banister and ... crunch .
He looked down and nearly vomited.
"Don’t move!" his chief, who had been keeping an eye on the rookie, yelled from down the hall. J.J. froze until he got the sign that he should lift his foot back up—slowly—and then step to the right. The chief lifted a charred two-by-four to reveal a small piece of blue robe. It was the only color left in the room besides the yellow stripe along their coats. She had tried to get downstairs herself when the ceiling collapsed on top of her.
As J.J. spoke, I found my posture mirroring his own, my heart rate slightly elevated, and my hands and feet fidgeting more than usual. By the end of the story, I felt as if I had stepped on the woman myself.
I sat still, facing him, and took a deep breath. He had stopped fidgeting. Once again, I saw the pain in his eyes and considered the importance of what had happened. It was the same process that storytellers and listeners have experienced for centuries. The words we use—even in the most ordinary conversations—move us. Not just metaphorically. Literally . The stories we hear don’t just make us frown; they don’t just elicit a good laugh from time to time. They impact us physically. They touch us where we feel it most deeply, sometimes without our permission. It was his trauma, but for a few moments I had all the symptoms of having undergone it myself.
go here for more
Borrowed Trauma
Sunday, December 14, 2008
For a soldier's parents, their own post-trauma
For a soldier's parents, their own post-trauma
When Army Sgt. Ryan Kahlor returned from two combat tours in Iraq last year, he was a walking billboard for virtually every affliction suffered by today’s veterans. "My dad fought tooth and nail for me, knowing people in the military can't speak for themselves always," Ryan said. "My Dad pushed me to get help. He doesn't let me cut corners and he's always on my butt." Audio slideshow
As they help their son recover from a war they had supported, it's a journey through 'secondary PTSD.'
By David Zucchino
December 14, 2008
Reporting from Temecula -- When Army Sgt. Ryan Kahlor returned from two combat tours in Iraq last year, he was a walking billboard for virtually every affliction suffered by today's veterans. He had a detached retina, a ruptured disc, vertigo, headaches, memory lapses and numbness in his arms. Fluid seeped from his ears.
He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. He was violent and suicidal. He carried a loaded handgun everywhere. He drank until he passed out. He cut himself. He burned his own skin with cigarettes. He bit through his tongue just to watch himself bleed.
Kahlor, 24, admits he came back not caring about anyone -- the military, his friends, his family or himself. But pushed hard by his parents, he slowly accepted and then embraced counseling and treatment. Today, he has begun to recover.
His parents are still trying.
The Kahlors -- a college employee and a nurse -- have fought through a series of transformations unfamiliar to most military families.
Tim Kahlor says he and his wife, Laura, have been left with what he calls, only half in jest, "secondary PTSD." He says his doctor prescribed antidepression medication to help him cope with his son's ordeal. And both parents, haunted by their son's physical and emotional breakdown, are fiercely opposed to the war.
Tim Kahlor, 50, who had felt a patriotic surge after the Sept. 11 attacks, turned against the war after Ryan complained during his first tour about ineffective body armor and poorly armored vehicles. Laura Kahlor, 53, blames the war for her son's psychological and physical torment. Though she is now grateful for the treatment he eventually received, she -- like her husband -- wishes they had never let Ryan enlist.
They are still bitter over the several months that their son drifted while they pleaded with both Ryan and the military for effective PTSD treatment. Ryan survived several roadside bomb attacks in Iraq but was traumatized by the violence he witnessed.
"I was so naive. I was this kid from the Bible Belt who thought our country would take care of our soldiers," Tim Kahlor said. "I have guilt for helping him get into this."
click link above for more
When Army Sgt. Ryan Kahlor returned from two combat tours in Iraq last year, he was a walking billboard for virtually every affliction suffered by today’s veterans. "My dad fought tooth and nail for me, knowing people in the military can't speak for themselves always," Ryan said. "My Dad pushed me to get help. He doesn't let me cut corners and he's always on my butt." Audio slideshow
As they help their son recover from a war they had supported, it's a journey through 'secondary PTSD.'
By David Zucchino
December 14, 2008
Reporting from Temecula -- When Army Sgt. Ryan Kahlor returned from two combat tours in Iraq last year, he was a walking billboard for virtually every affliction suffered by today's veterans. He had a detached retina, a ruptured disc, vertigo, headaches, memory lapses and numbness in his arms. Fluid seeped from his ears.
He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. He was violent and suicidal. He carried a loaded handgun everywhere. He drank until he passed out. He cut himself. He burned his own skin with cigarettes. He bit through his tongue just to watch himself bleed.
Kahlor, 24, admits he came back not caring about anyone -- the military, his friends, his family or himself. But pushed hard by his parents, he slowly accepted and then embraced counseling and treatment. Today, he has begun to recover.
His parents are still trying.
The Kahlors -- a college employee and a nurse -- have fought through a series of transformations unfamiliar to most military families.
Tim Kahlor says he and his wife, Laura, have been left with what he calls, only half in jest, "secondary PTSD." He says his doctor prescribed antidepression medication to help him cope with his son's ordeal. And both parents, haunted by their son's physical and emotional breakdown, are fiercely opposed to the war.
Tim Kahlor, 50, who had felt a patriotic surge after the Sept. 11 attacks, turned against the war after Ryan complained during his first tour about ineffective body armor and poorly armored vehicles. Laura Kahlor, 53, blames the war for her son's psychological and physical torment. Though she is now grateful for the treatment he eventually received, she -- like her husband -- wishes they had never let Ryan enlist.
They are still bitter over the several months that their son drifted while they pleaded with both Ryan and the military for effective PTSD treatment. Ryan survived several roadside bomb attacks in Iraq but was traumatized by the violence he witnessed.
"I was so naive. I was this kid from the Bible Belt who thought our country would take care of our soldiers," Tim Kahlor said. "I have guilt for helping him get into this."
click link above for more
Friday, December 5, 2008
PTSD:The difference between "secondary stressor" and "secondary PTSD"
by Chaplain Kathie
If you have PTSD or someone in your family does, you may have heard these two terms. There is a big difference between the two of them. In plain English without all the medical terms no one can understand this is what they are.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Secondary Stressor
First you need to understand there are different levels of PTSD. It's why the VA has different levels of compensation for it. Some can have mild PTSD. They are able to function. They are able to have relationships and work. While they still have nightmares, flashbacks and mood swings, they are able to cope to a certain extent.
They go on believing that "it's not that bad" and they don't seek treatment. They just bury it. They bury it with work and doing things. They stuff it in the back of their minds and focus on other things.
We know that the healing rate for PTSD is higher the sooner they get help but with mild PTSD, it's easier to avoid doing anything about it. It happened to Vietnam veterans.
Because they didn't know what PTSD was when they came home, they thought they would just have to get used to being the way they are. After all, bad things come into everyone's life. Considering they heard all the usual denials from the people they were surrounded by, avoiding it was easier than facing it.
They managed to get by. That is until another traumatic event hit them hard. In our case, I miscarried twins. It was a very traumatic day for me but it was catastrophic for my husband. He had been my best friend. He took time off of work to go to appointments with my doctor. He worried about what I ate, if I was getting enough rest and if my feet were swelling too much. We knew he had PTSD even though he wanted to deny it.
My father, a Korean war veteran was used to seeing veterans like him. My Dad was 100%, well known at the DAV and the VA regional office, as well as with other veterans. The day he met Jack, I asked him what he thought. He said, "He seems like a nice guy, but that guy has shell shock." I told my Dad the new term was PTSD. What I didn't know back then was that it would get worse without being treated.
I was still thinking that when they had PTSD, it was what it was and couldn't get worse. I thought we could just deal with the "quirks" of having to sit in a certain place in our favorite restaurant. That having to leave a party or get-together early because it got too much for him, was no real problem. His twitches didn't bother me or our friends. His memory lapses were not that hard to deal with. I could handle all of it. The problem was, Jack wasn't.
The day I lost the twins, Jack was right there with me. He saw it all and saw me falling apart. Later, after it was over, I had to call Jack to come back to the hospital because I needed him with me. He didn't want to come. I had to beg him to come back. The secondary stressor hit him that hard, that fast. The man I thought I knew as well as myself, was gone. A stranger showed up at the hospital.
The next day as the doctor was explaining the egg just separated wrong, Jack was twitching like crazy, couldn't hear what the doctor was saying and kept talking about Vietnam and Agent Orange.
Our lives fell apart after that. All the symptoms of PTSD grew stronger and I was watching him die inside. I couldn't get him to listen to me about PTSD or that he needed help. My Dad tried to get him to go to the VA but Jack said the VA was for veterans who couldn't work and the veterans without limbs. It was not what he needed. He just needed time to "get over it" and become what he used to be. He saw the changes in himself but was still in denial.
It didn't matter what I knew or how hard I tried to get him to go to the VA. He just didn't want to hear it.
That is what a "secondary stressor" does. It's PTSD on steroids. If they seek help as soon as symptoms begin, PTSD stops getting worse. If they don't, if they bury it, it is storing up the energy to hit them hard. We're seeing it in the older veterans as they reach retirement. When they have nothing to help them bury it with, it all comes seeping out. When they look back at their lives, they are able to see all the signs and how hard they worked at stuffing it all in their minds.
Secondary PTSD
Secondary PTSD is when you live with someone with PTSD.
The way they act.
The way they treat others.
The mood swings.
The unacceptable behavior making you feel as if you don't matter at all. Especially when they don't seem to care about accountability, showing up on time, saying hateful things and taking off for days at a time.
Causing arguments getting out of control.
Their disconnect from their families.
Self-medicating to kill off the feelings they don't want to feel.
The list goes on.
If a child acts like a child and is noisy, they snap. If a child drops a glass and it crashes, they overreact. Any kind of simple commotion sends them over the edge. Nothing a child can do will make the PTSD parent happy. The negativity is extreme. Often the child believes their parent hates them. In turn, the child will begin to hate the parent.
It is all traumatic growing up with a parent and untreated PTSD. Much like the children of alcoholics have to heal from growing up with a "drunk" as a parent, children of PTSD parents also have to heal so they lead happier lives. They also need to have the help of mental health professionals just as their parent does.
When it is a spouse, it is the same because they treat everyone in the family the same way.
My Dad was an alcoholic and I grew up in a household that was under attack. He came home drunk most of the time. My oldest brother was usually his favorite target. He was beaten until he got bigger than our Dad. Then the fights were a two way street. There was a lot of smashing, breaking and punching. When I was 13, my Dad stopped drinking and joined AA. It took a long time for him to begin to change, but the damage was done to my family.
I understood what it was and that helped me to forgive him and come to terms with the way he treated us. There are still issues I have with feeling unloved at times because of the way my Mom ended reacting. She held a lot resentment and so did my two brothers. When it comes to me, nothing is ever good enough. I have a hard time dealing with any acclaim, people appreciating what I do and do not take compliments very well. I get uneasy with any kind of attention finding it more comfortable to sit in the back of the room.
When I was writing without my married name, I excused it by saying my husband wanted to remain private. The stigma of PTSD was still with him. The truth is that I wanted to remain anonymous as well. I wanted to just do what I do and then go sit in the back of the room letting everyone else get attention. I thought they deserved it more than I did anyway. I fight against the way I have been conditioned to respond. I still get sick to my stomach when I have to be the "center of attention" even though part of me believes I've worked very hard to get where I am in all of this, part of me remains the little kid that wanted to be invisible.
Living with my husband and PTSD, it's the same way. I understood what it was and was able to forgive him for the way he acted and sometimes still does. I know when the dark days are overshadowing his character. When those days come, I know when to pretty much stay away from him. I hesitate to say some things to him because I know he will not react appropriately. I stopped feeling attractive, stopped wearing makeup and dress plainly to avoid any attention. That is unless I have to wear the Chaplain's attire to be taken seriously. It is all a constant process and a growing experience but my faith has sustained me. Spiritual connection has been vital to me in all of this.
While I've had traumatic events happen in my life, plus almost dying 5 times, (I'll tell you about that some other time) it has all gone into what I deal with inside of me. I do not have PTSD but it has all gone into the way I feel inside about myself and other people. I think my life has helped me to understand how some people can develop PTSD at a rate of one out of three. Everything in our lives becomes a part of us. The good as well as the bad. We have to fight to overcome the bad and we have to sometimes force ourselves to focus on the good. That's all human nature.
I believe in a way we all have pieces of traumatic events in our lives if we really take an honest look at ourselves. I don't know anyone that has escaped trauma totally. When you lose a job, that's traumatic and the next job you have, you end up acting different until you feel comfortable on the new job. When you have a traumatic relationship, you act differently than you did in that relationship because deep inside you blame yourself for the way it went. Yet when it is a parent, you cannot get new parents to act differently with. When it's a spouse, you can find a new one but again, you will not be the same.
The thing is, in all of this the choice is your's to hang onto the bad, or grab the good. Focus on what is wrong or reach for what is good. I have a hard time trusting people. This goes into my amazement when I meet someone I can trust, when I see the actions that restore my faith in humanity. I may doubt, but I'm willing to believe when I see "fruits of their deeds" and believe in what I see with my own eyes. People can say anything they want but who they are inside, comes out in what they do. I saw my Dad overcome the alcoholism. I saw my Jack fight to heal and keeps fighting to stay level. Both of them could have become enemies in my heart but I saw what was good in them instead. They have made me stronger and gave me the ability to look at the cause of the pain they had within themselves so that I could come to terms with the pain they caused in me.
I hope you have a better understanding now of what the difference is between secondary stressor and secondary PTSD. More, I hope you can forgive the people in your life causing you pain. You need to see what caused the pain within them so that you can forgive them for your own pain.
Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Secondary Stressor
First you need to understand there are different levels of PTSD. It's why the VA has different levels of compensation for it. Some can have mild PTSD. They are able to function. They are able to have relationships and work. While they still have nightmares, flashbacks and mood swings, they are able to cope to a certain extent.
They go on believing that "it's not that bad" and they don't seek treatment. They just bury it. They bury it with work and doing things. They stuff it in the back of their minds and focus on other things.
We know that the healing rate for PTSD is higher the sooner they get help but with mild PTSD, it's easier to avoid doing anything about it. It happened to Vietnam veterans.
Because they didn't know what PTSD was when they came home, they thought they would just have to get used to being the way they are. After all, bad things come into everyone's life. Considering they heard all the usual denials from the people they were surrounded by, avoiding it was easier than facing it.
They managed to get by. That is until another traumatic event hit them hard. In our case, I miscarried twins. It was a very traumatic day for me but it was catastrophic for my husband. He had been my best friend. He took time off of work to go to appointments with my doctor. He worried about what I ate, if I was getting enough rest and if my feet were swelling too much. We knew he had PTSD even though he wanted to deny it.
My father, a Korean war veteran was used to seeing veterans like him. My Dad was 100%, well known at the DAV and the VA regional office, as well as with other veterans. The day he met Jack, I asked him what he thought. He said, "He seems like a nice guy, but that guy has shell shock." I told my Dad the new term was PTSD. What I didn't know back then was that it would get worse without being treated.
I was still thinking that when they had PTSD, it was what it was and couldn't get worse. I thought we could just deal with the "quirks" of having to sit in a certain place in our favorite restaurant. That having to leave a party or get-together early because it got too much for him, was no real problem. His twitches didn't bother me or our friends. His memory lapses were not that hard to deal with. I could handle all of it. The problem was, Jack wasn't.
The day I lost the twins, Jack was right there with me. He saw it all and saw me falling apart. Later, after it was over, I had to call Jack to come back to the hospital because I needed him with me. He didn't want to come. I had to beg him to come back. The secondary stressor hit him that hard, that fast. The man I thought I knew as well as myself, was gone. A stranger showed up at the hospital.
The next day as the doctor was explaining the egg just separated wrong, Jack was twitching like crazy, couldn't hear what the doctor was saying and kept talking about Vietnam and Agent Orange.
Our lives fell apart after that. All the symptoms of PTSD grew stronger and I was watching him die inside. I couldn't get him to listen to me about PTSD or that he needed help. My Dad tried to get him to go to the VA but Jack said the VA was for veterans who couldn't work and the veterans without limbs. It was not what he needed. He just needed time to "get over it" and become what he used to be. He saw the changes in himself but was still in denial.
It didn't matter what I knew or how hard I tried to get him to go to the VA. He just didn't want to hear it.
That is what a "secondary stressor" does. It's PTSD on steroids. If they seek help as soon as symptoms begin, PTSD stops getting worse. If they don't, if they bury it, it is storing up the energy to hit them hard. We're seeing it in the older veterans as they reach retirement. When they have nothing to help them bury it with, it all comes seeping out. When they look back at their lives, they are able to see all the signs and how hard they worked at stuffing it all in their minds.
Secondary PTSD
Secondary PTSD is when you live with someone with PTSD.
The way they act.
The way they treat others.
The mood swings.
The unacceptable behavior making you feel as if you don't matter at all. Especially when they don't seem to care about accountability, showing up on time, saying hateful things and taking off for days at a time.
Causing arguments getting out of control.
Their disconnect from their families.
Self-medicating to kill off the feelings they don't want to feel.
The list goes on.
If a child acts like a child and is noisy, they snap. If a child drops a glass and it crashes, they overreact. Any kind of simple commotion sends them over the edge. Nothing a child can do will make the PTSD parent happy. The negativity is extreme. Often the child believes their parent hates them. In turn, the child will begin to hate the parent.
It is all traumatic growing up with a parent and untreated PTSD. Much like the children of alcoholics have to heal from growing up with a "drunk" as a parent, children of PTSD parents also have to heal so they lead happier lives. They also need to have the help of mental health professionals just as their parent does.
When it is a spouse, it is the same because they treat everyone in the family the same way.
My Dad was an alcoholic and I grew up in a household that was under attack. He came home drunk most of the time. My oldest brother was usually his favorite target. He was beaten until he got bigger than our Dad. Then the fights were a two way street. There was a lot of smashing, breaking and punching. When I was 13, my Dad stopped drinking and joined AA. It took a long time for him to begin to change, but the damage was done to my family.
I understood what it was and that helped me to forgive him and come to terms with the way he treated us. There are still issues I have with feeling unloved at times because of the way my Mom ended reacting. She held a lot resentment and so did my two brothers. When it comes to me, nothing is ever good enough. I have a hard time dealing with any acclaim, people appreciating what I do and do not take compliments very well. I get uneasy with any kind of attention finding it more comfortable to sit in the back of the room.
When I was writing without my married name, I excused it by saying my husband wanted to remain private. The stigma of PTSD was still with him. The truth is that I wanted to remain anonymous as well. I wanted to just do what I do and then go sit in the back of the room letting everyone else get attention. I thought they deserved it more than I did anyway. I fight against the way I have been conditioned to respond. I still get sick to my stomach when I have to be the "center of attention" even though part of me believes I've worked very hard to get where I am in all of this, part of me remains the little kid that wanted to be invisible.
Living with my husband and PTSD, it's the same way. I understood what it was and was able to forgive him for the way he acted and sometimes still does. I know when the dark days are overshadowing his character. When those days come, I know when to pretty much stay away from him. I hesitate to say some things to him because I know he will not react appropriately. I stopped feeling attractive, stopped wearing makeup and dress plainly to avoid any attention. That is unless I have to wear the Chaplain's attire to be taken seriously. It is all a constant process and a growing experience but my faith has sustained me. Spiritual connection has been vital to me in all of this.
While I've had traumatic events happen in my life, plus almost dying 5 times, (I'll tell you about that some other time) it has all gone into what I deal with inside of me. I do not have PTSD but it has all gone into the way I feel inside about myself and other people. I think my life has helped me to understand how some people can develop PTSD at a rate of one out of three. Everything in our lives becomes a part of us. The good as well as the bad. We have to fight to overcome the bad and we have to sometimes force ourselves to focus on the good. That's all human nature.
I believe in a way we all have pieces of traumatic events in our lives if we really take an honest look at ourselves. I don't know anyone that has escaped trauma totally. When you lose a job, that's traumatic and the next job you have, you end up acting different until you feel comfortable on the new job. When you have a traumatic relationship, you act differently than you did in that relationship because deep inside you blame yourself for the way it went. Yet when it is a parent, you cannot get new parents to act differently with. When it's a spouse, you can find a new one but again, you will not be the same.
The thing is, in all of this the choice is your's to hang onto the bad, or grab the good. Focus on what is wrong or reach for what is good. I have a hard time trusting people. This goes into my amazement when I meet someone I can trust, when I see the actions that restore my faith in humanity. I may doubt, but I'm willing to believe when I see "fruits of their deeds" and believe in what I see with my own eyes. People can say anything they want but who they are inside, comes out in what they do. I saw my Dad overcome the alcoholism. I saw my Jack fight to heal and keeps fighting to stay level. Both of them could have become enemies in my heart but I saw what was good in them instead. They have made me stronger and gave me the ability to look at the cause of the pain they had within themselves so that I could come to terms with the pain they caused in me.
I hope you have a better understanding now of what the difference is between secondary stressor and secondary PTSD. More, I hope you can forgive the people in your life causing you pain. You need to see what caused the pain within them so that you can forgive them for your own pain.
Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Social workers can get secondary trauma
Social workers can get secondary trauma
Published: April 22, 2008 at 5:35 PM
DANVILLE, Pa., April 22 (UPI) -- Hearing repeated stories of suffering from trauma victims causes serious psychological stress in clinical social workers, U.S. researchers found.
Geisinger Health System senior investigator Joseph Boscarino and colleagues examined psychological stress, job burnout and secondary trauma among 236 New York City social workers following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
click post title for the rest
Every time I read a report like this I shake my head in agreement. While I know how hard it is on me being online, I can only imagine how hard it is on people doing this face to face, seeing the pain in someone's eyes and the tears. I give them a lot of credit because I wouldn't be able to do that on a daily basis. It's bad enough from where I sit already. There should be bumper stickers "support your mental health worker" because they sure do need it.
Published: April 22, 2008 at 5:35 PM
DANVILLE, Pa., April 22 (UPI) -- Hearing repeated stories of suffering from trauma victims causes serious psychological stress in clinical social workers, U.S. researchers found.
Geisinger Health System senior investigator Joseph Boscarino and colleagues examined psychological stress, job burnout and secondary trauma among 236 New York City social workers following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
click post title for the rest
Every time I read a report like this I shake my head in agreement. While I know how hard it is on me being online, I can only imagine how hard it is on people doing this face to face, seeing the pain in someone's eyes and the tears. I give them a lot of credit because I wouldn't be able to do that on a daily basis. It's bad enough from where I sit already. There should be bumper stickers "support your mental health worker" because they sure do need it.
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