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How You Can Help Our Vets Restore Connection With Life & Thrive

5/27/2013

6 Comments

 
Picture
Today is Memorial Day.  Having parades and displaying flags to show appreciation for military personnel who've served our country are undoubtedly meaningful, important gestures.  And I personally offer a prayer of gratitude for those who've died in the line of duty. 

My ultimate prayer is we'll use ways to resolve conflict nonviolently and war will become obsolete.  But we're obviously not there yet. 

So meantime, what are we doing for those who return?  Most veterans need much more than a "thank you", however deeply heartfelt it may be.  A significant amount are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which  results in feeling disconnected from oneself, others and all of life.  PTSD alone, much less combined with transitioning from being in combat to being home, often derails people, big time, leaving the entire family needing help.


Although I have quite a bit of experience treating adults who suffer from childhood abuse, I've never worked with a veteran.  However, whenever there's reporting of an unusually horrific rampage of violence, I tend to think it's untreated PTSD, and write my legislators, asking that more be done to help military personnel,  including military dogs.  

The good news is there has been increased military awareness around PTSD, as well as long fought for availability of timely and effective treatment.  I got tears in my eyes when President Obama signed another executive order on August 31, 2012, aimed at improving access to mental health services for vets.  The bad news is that because of pending government sequester cuts, these hard won services are now threatened.

Given this, what can you do
to help? 
1) Contact your elected officials to let them know treatment of PTSD for vets is a top priority for you and you'd like these services to be protected as much as possible.
2) Educate yourself and others to be able to detect PTSD and encourage those suffering from it to seek help. 
3) Share resources for information and treatment, such as this post, which includes additional resources at the bottom, for example.
4) Pray, meditate, chant, whatever you do along this line, for those who have returned and will return.

Regardless of your beliefs about our country's involvement in war, I think you'd agree that many veterans have served us in good faith, including sacrificing their lives for us.  I feel we, in turn, need to advocate for and serve them.


Links To Recommended References & Resources:

Contact Elected Officials


"Four Legged Warriors Show Signs of PTSD" by Ryan Loyd, March 11, 2013

Free Audio For Stress Relief

"Military PTSD treatment hurt by sequester cuts" by Fritz Burgher, March 13, 2013

"Military Veterans PTSD Reference Manual"


"PTSD Help For Veterans and Military Families"

"PTSD: Is It Treatable Or Do You Just Have To Learn To Cope?" by Mary Tendall and Jan Fishler



6 Comments
Dennis Keenan,D.C. link
5/27/2013 10:27:22 am

I would be glad to adjust any of our veterans for a month of unlimited visits. Specific chiropractic adjustments improve the brain-body nerve connections, so the body can correct itself. It is one of the elements that the body needs to rebalance, restore itself.

Reply
Elizabeth Lehmann
5/27/2013 10:49:57 am

This is a very generous offer, Dennis. I hope some people take you up on it. I agree that body work as well as psychological work is needed.

Reply
Ken Benau, Ph.D.
5/27/2013 10:27:28 am

Thank you for this reminder, Elizabeth. Having worked with combat vets at the V.A. when I was a psychology intern, many of whom suffered from PTSD and/or substance abuse, I have great respect for veterans even though I am fundamentally against war. I was particularly moved by the cameraderie veterans felt with their fellow soldiers, and with me as a fledging therapist because I showed them I cared.

One book that might be of interest to your readers about healing the warrior is Edward Tick's "War and the Soul: Healing our Nation's Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder". Tick takes a non-traditional view of healing war-related trauma, calling upon Native American rituals (among other approaches) to guide his work. His book is a painful but compelling read.

Thank you again for reminding us all that there is more than one way to honor our veterans.

Reply
Elizabeth Lehmann
5/27/2013 10:53:05 am

Thanks for your very thoughtful response, Ken, as well as sharing the additional resource of Edward Tick's book. I'll definitely check it out.

Reply
martine
5/27/2013 01:12:32 pm

Beautifully written on a subject I have thought about so any times. It is so cruel to use these kids as fodder for crazy politics and then withhold health services toward their recovery..shameful

Reply
Elizabeth Lehmann
5/27/2013 03:14:51 pm

Thank you, Martine! Your comment means a lot for many reasons. Yes, "shameful" is the right word. If we send them overseas to fight for us, the least we can do is properly take care of them when they come back.

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