Level headed Republicans do exist

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 14, 2022

Happy Valentine's Day! Today is the day when most people think about the people the love. So do I, but I am also thinking about the people I once loved because I thought they truly love God and the truth. They replaced both with Trump and lies. Sure they think they are telling the truth and everyone else is lying because they believed the liar was telling them the truth. Fascinating when you know the truth is all over the place, but they won't even look for it. Safe to assume they heard what they wanted to and didn't need to know more. 

I tried to tell them the truth, but they wouldn't listen. They turned around, attacked me and called me stuff like "libtard." They forgot I have been a registered Independent for twenty years. Like most Americans, neither party represented everything I thought. I miss my Republican friends. Not the way they became, but they way they always were before Trump.

Some of them were actually happy he was tied to Putin and Russia. No matter how many times he lied, they not only approved of the lie, they spread it. I could no longer tolerate having them in my life after decades when they supported the attack on the Capitol because their choice didn't win re-election.

Now, I am happy that level headed Republicans do still exist and have the strength and courage to tell the truth against what their own party is doing. 

 

The Republican Accountability Project
179K subscribers

In the days after January 6, Republicans Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Mike Gallagher all knew Trump was responsible. A year later, don’t let them forget what they said.

This ad will run nationally and in target cities across cable networks on January 6, including Fox and Friends, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Sean Hannity, CNN, The Rachel Maddow Show, All In With Chris Hayes, and Morning Joe.

It is no secret I love God and this country. That love requires me to not just tell the truth, but to speak boldly about it. The number of those still supporting the lies are far less than than the rest of the country. 

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1)

If you believe in God and His Son, then that sickening feeling you've been having is Them trying to tell you that you are infecting the soul within you. Open your eyes to what the truth actually is, and ask for forgiveness. It is time for this country to go back to the usual disagreements we have and end this war between what are lies and what are truths.

Besides, I miss my Republican friends who used to call me friend instead of attacking me for speaking the truth.

Got PTSD? Miracles Still Happen!

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 11, 2022

Stranger Angels 

2022 began with a new mission for Chris and his friends. In the process of writing a new book, Chris wanted to address the traumas that happened when some of his friends were young to give hope to others living with abusive parents and bullies. He also had to find closure for the abuse he survived in LA.

Dreams were haunting him and grew stronger. He kept his promise to go into therapy for PTSD and finally had to admit the thing he had been hiding all along.

If you have #PTSD it can be hard to believe in miracles again. It is hard to think that surviving what caused it was already a miracle if you are suffering without hope. If all you see are others suffering too, it doesn't give you much hope. If you see them healing, their lives changing for the better, you have hope it can happen for you too! I got so tired of hearing people raising awareness about the worst PTSD does. I thought it was time to change the conversation and show what is the best survivors can do with the rest of their lives.

In six months, I wrote three books. The Lost Son, Alive Again (Part 2) and Stranger Angels (Part 3)

I hope they give you hope especially if you are among the churchless children of God, and think there is no place for you in a church. The truth is, God is there for you too! (Romans 8:26-27) "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."

Beyond the battlefield

Beyond the battlefield: Author shines light on PTSD that occurs outside a war zone

The Rochester Voice
Harrison Thorp
January 30, 2022

ROCHESTER - Kathie Costos of Rochester has devoted much of her life to the study of PTSD, including its far-less diagnosed forms that follow traumatic episodes outside the battlefield.

During a ribbon cutting for her two new books on Thursday Costos explained that her first brush with PTSD occurred at the age of 5 when she was seriously hurt in an accident, but was sent home by medical professionals who told her to just "get some sleep" when she had actually suffered a fractured skull and concussion.
read more here

A couple of lessons to take away from this. The first one is, never give up. It took me 40 years to get support like I've been getting here in Rochester New Hampshire. We moved here 4 months before COVID hit.

The other thing is, I hope readers of these books discover that they have nothing to be ashamed of if they, or someone they love, has PTSD, no matter what caused it. The truth is, surviving the cause, makes us survivors!

If someone thinks they should be ashamed but struggle with knowing they need help, see someone else ask for it and then get treated badly, they won't ask for help. If they see someone breaking the silence and receive help to heal and be happier, they are encouraged to dream about being able to do the same thing.

You can find these books and the rest here on Amazon. I am currently editing the third part of this series. Not bad for five months of work!

Rochester Chamber expanded my support system and felt more like family

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 28, 2022 

The Rochester Chamber of Commerce, Tanya and Laura, made me feel welcome and gave me the support I needed. In other words, the Chamber expanded my support system and felt more like family. Yesterday, they went above and beyond, hosting a ribbon cutting to help me celebrate the two books I wrote in just a couple of months. I am honored and blessed to be a member of such a wonderful organization! Thank you to everyone who came out to share this wonderful day with me!

The Chamber was pleased to hold a ribbon cutting ceremony today for author Kathie Costos of PTSD Patrol, who has recently written and published two books, The Lost Son and Alive Again. The books, which are about the many causes of post traumatic stress disorder, feature a main character who was a reporter covering the wars and are based in Salem, MA and the fictional town of Gabriel, NH. Both books are available for purchase at the Chamber office, or contact Kathie: (407) 754-7526 or email moralmortal.llc@aol.com. Present in the photo in no particular order are: Kathie Costos with family and friends, Chamber Board Members: Lauren Jerr, R.W. Creteau Regional Tech Center at Spaulding High, Mark Farrell, Laars Heating Systems Company, Dave Stevens, Hourihane, Cormier and Associates, and also Harrison Thorp of The Rochester Voice and Rochester Police Chief Gary Boudreau.

If you have been wondering why I haven't been posting lately, I am editing the third part of The Lost Son. This one was started in December and is already done. Check back soon for details and as always, thank you for your support too!

Veterans with PTSD on trial

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

January 12, 2022

My head is exploding right now. Can any reporter explain to me why they manage to always report on a veteran with PTSD committing crimes, use it in the headline, yet do not notice they do not report on everyone else committing crimes when they have PTSD too?

Apparently veterans with PTSD are on trial but reporters fail to see we all are!

This is the headline the headline that caused a massive headache!

"Veteran with PTSD pleads guilty to killing 2 men in SC in 2017, lawyers say" and is on Stars and Stripes.

Family members for King and McNair spoke on Friday before Melton's sentencing "about the tragedy and loss of their sons," Campbell said.
Mental illness and drugs

Melton served in the military and was stationed in Iraq in 2004, developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of that experience, said his defense lawyer, Justin Kata of the Giese Law Firm in Columbia.

Kata said Melton was later diagnosed by a psychiatrist.

At the time of the killings, "he had PTSD symptoms and he was self-medicating," Kata said.

According to the National Center for PTSD, there are 15 million Americans joining the PTSD club every year but reporters will only cover veterans committing sucide and crimes.

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%). Learn more about women, trauma and PTSD

Let's look at the results of this. 

Veterans have a hard time finding jobs because employers remember reading about a veteran like this one. Because reporters do not cover all the other survivors with PTSD, they have no idea that PTSD does not make people dangerous or even get them to contemplate the simple fact that they have probably already hired a lot of good employees with PTSD unknowingly.

Veterans getting all the attention is a billion dollar industry because people care about veterans. While that is a good thing, we should consider why there are no massive fundraisers for everyone else with PTSD not getting the help we all need.

People in law enforcement, fire departments, emergency responders, medical, you name the occupation, are ignored. No one seems to care.

I was guilty of this too. I spent decades focused on veterans when few others were. I thought that since there were so many other people, they'd have enough help but I did not know no one in the media was putting it all together. It never even dawned on me that after surviving over 10 events, I had a rare form of it. It also didn't dawn on two therapists I saw over the years.

Do we take care of veterans properly? NO!

Do we take care of anyone in need to mental health care properly? NO!

Until we get reporters to cover all of us so that we know how many of us there are after surviving, we will not be able to focus on what is helpful to others, that can help us too. We will not be able to inspire hope to others suffering from something only we can understand. While we may not be able to fully understand the causes if we did not experience it, we can understand what it is doing to them, and they can understand what it has done to us.

Kathie Costos on Amazon

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD