Best Of, Blogishness, ptsd, Self Improvement / Healthy Living

Why The U.S. Army Should Teach Stoic Philosophy In Basic Training

US Army Basic Training Soldiers Should Be Taught Stoic Philosophy

A lot of soldiers today underestimate the importance of adequate mental preparation for the ordeal ahead of them. In order to successfully mentally prepare people who will undergo Basic Training and graduate into the military, some suggest that the U.S. Army should start teaching the principles of stoicism during Basic Training.

Why should the nation’s military change already established standards to teach recruits a relatively unconventional belief system? Stoicism has the potential to be powerful to a group of soldiers. It can teach them how to cope with what happens around them when they’re on duty.

Stoicism also helps them hold onto their true character, while facing harrowing situations, when away from what’s familiar to them. Not only that, stoicism is essentially for helping those enlisted to keep flourishing as a human being in light of traumatic experiences.

What is Stoicism?

Stoicism, in the modern world, can essentially help people cope with emotional and physical trauma without responding to such situations in a highly reactive way. It helps people accept the inevitable, or what has happened, without reacting in a way that’s ruled by their emotions. The idea is that ‘whatever happens has happened by means of forces they can’t control, and it has no real bearing on their character.’

In this way, stoicism acts as a ‘practical guide for life.’ While it helps teach people how to approach situations deftly, it also encourages people to become more mentally tough. The lessons people can learn from stoic philosophy makes it a natural philosophy for the currently enlisted to utilize for coping with traumatic experiences.

Stoicism and How To Cope

The principles of stoic philosophy can help the enlisted learn how to cope with both physical and mental trauma, especially since some may develop conditions like post traumatic stress disorder as a result of entreating such trauma.

Learning how to flourish as a human being is the main reason why stoicism may work within the context of the U.S. Army’s Basic Training. As previously mentioned, Stoicism maintains that the main goal of life is to flourish.

To flourish as a human being is to:

  • To live in continued excellence.
  • To live happily.
  • To live with a peace of mind.
  • To live as a strong character.
  • To live with enthusiasm for life.

Establishing such a mindset in soldiers from the start can help them avoid developing negative behavioral patterns that may directly contribute to the develop of post traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders. How soldiers can maintain their true character, as they remain Stoic, also plays a role in helping them flourish.

Stoicism and Maintaining True Character

Stoicism states that people can become harmonious once again with nature, as long as they can return to their true character. Character is our ability to distinguish good from evil, while also acting upon our interpretation of nature.

How people weave themselves through nature determines their character, provided they act internally based on how they perceive situations. As a character, it’s essentially our duty to react objectively—what happens around us ultimately doesn’t influence our true character. Naturally, Stoicism teaches that external elements don’t help people flourish; people can, however, use those elements to build character if they choose.

In other words, soldiers can use stoicism to teach them that what happens around them doesn’t bear down on their character. Whatever happens around them – whether in Basic Training or out on the field – has only occurred by the means of forces they can’t control. Therefore, such forces have no real bearing on their character.

By accepting that such forces don’t bear down on their character, soldiers can essentially learn how to cope with potentially traumatic experiences. This helps keep their character harmonious with nature, allowing them to live a more fulfilled life, even after their time enlisted in the Army.

Stoicism and Being Human

Many famous sayings ultimately boil down to ‘war changes people.’ Soldiers, especially those headed off to a war field, often don’t know how to cope with being sent in such a harrowing situation. They respond to their situation by harboring feelings of fear, resentment and all sorts of negative feelings.

A soldier who accepts their duty in light of what’s around them has learned to accept the inevitable. By accepting the inevitable, a soldier can maintain a peace of mind and their character while responding to their duties of war. Teaching stoicism early into a soldier’s training can help them accept the inevitability of being human: being unable to influence what happens around us, but able to accept the inevitability of it all. As humans, we hold little influence over external forces. That’s why, as humans, we can’t get too caught up in trying to change what happened, because we can’t. We can, however, learn to accept what happened.

While the U.S. Army likely isn’t going to change their training regime any time soon, the soon-to-be enlisted should learn more about Stoicism. Undertaking enlistment in the Army can be daunting to the psyche and the body, but if we can learn to accept what happens, that’s what keeps us harmonious as humans.

Picture: Flickr/West Point – The U.S. Military Academy

Best Of, ptsd, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Uncategorized

How Comedy is Helping Veterans with PTSD…

comedian performing to U.S. Troops in Iraq

As the Robin William’s movie Patch Adams showed us, comedy can be the best medicine. When it comes to those of us with psychological trauma it can also ring true as well. It helps us by taking way the fear, anger, and guilt we experience and replace it with laughter. We eventually learn to accept the past as just that and start moving forward.

 Stop me if you’ve heard this one…

One of the key factors tied to PTSD is the negative emotions and feelings tied to a specific moment or series of traumatic moments. It is these memories that continue to affect the lives of those who suffer. By addressing these memories in a humorous or funny way it takes the power away from these memories. With the control taken away from these moments it placed back into our ands we no longer have to suffer. Once you pull back the curtain and see the wizard for what it really is, it loses the hold it once had over our lives.

 Make’em laugh

By sharing these memories and stories with others though comedy you’re reach out to complete strangers and connecting with them. As the saying goes “No man is an island” and what better way to connect with people than though comedy. By opening up and connecting with an audience you not only allow them into your life but also connect with theirs. While many of these strangers could never begin to understand fully the experience that these moments in time have had on us; they can none the less, start to relate though laughter. It is this connection that allows us to work though the complicated emotions and feelings associated with these memories while helping others see it as entertainment. This isn’t to diminish, or take away from the experience as a whole but only to help us come to terms with it.

 The world’s a stage

One of the other major advantages with comedy when it comes to PTSD is that it gives us a safe, friendly environment to tell our tale. While sharing stories in a group or with a counselor is helpful, it doesn’t quite have the same effect as telling it as part of a comedy bit. The combination of the atmosphere, the lights, and the crowd can seem overwhelming but once you get the hang of it, you eventually feel right at home. This helps us to open up, and share things with the audience; some funny, some not so funny. The goal of any comedy routine is to connect with the audience. Once you’ve done that, it’s a feeling like nothing else.

 Laughing the pain away

As it has unfortunately come to light with the passing of Robin Williams, comedians are some of the most trouble people out there. For some, making others laugh allows them to forget their own pain. By sharing it with a crowd, it allows them to deal with things they can’t on their own. This is also very true for those who suffer from PTSD, especially in the case of combat veterans. While working though their traumatic experience, they can do so through the lens of humor allowing them to address it in a different way than they normally would. Over time the humor will replace the negative emotions attached to the experience making it far less anxiety inducing.

 Practice makes perfect

While comedy is a great route to deal with personal issues especially in the case of those that suffer from PTSD, it’s not something than can be done spontaneously or all at once. Like many things, it takes practice and patience. Especially in regards to adding humor to what is a traumatic experience. It’s not easy to find the humor in some things and especially so with something that powerful sticking with you. But by working with it, molding it, and transforming it, you not only work though the trauma but make it yours. This is just the first step towards returning to the person you were before it happened.

 Conclusion

PTSD is, in itself, not a laughing matter. However, by filtering it through the lens of comedy it helps the victims both move past their experience as well as allows them to share it with the world. By sharing our stories and memories with others it both helps take away the negative emotions attached to the moment as well as helps us connect with those around us. By forming these connections it allows us to begin to gain back parts of ourselves that we have lost as a result of the condition. No one should suffer in silence especially in regards to PTSD. But by bringing humor into the equations it is a step towards moving past it and moving forward instead of being stuck going in circles carrying the burden alone.

Now, for an example of ‘how it’s done,’ check out this YouTube video by famed soldier-comedian Bobby Henline:

Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir

In this dark humored War Memoir, Iraq veteran Michael Anthony discusses his return from war and how he defeated his PTSD. Civilianized is a must read for any veteran, or anyone who knows a veteran, who has returned from war and suffered through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

dark humored military memoir“An intense memoir.” -Kirkus

“I wont soon forget this book.” -Mary Roach

“A must read.” -Colby Buzzell

“[S]mart and mordantly funny.” –Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Anthony delivers a dose of reality that can awaken the mind…” Bookreporter

Order your copy of Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir .

Picture: Flickr/The U.S. Army

Best Of, Blogishness, ptsd, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Uncategorized

Military Discipline and PTSD

military discipline ptsd

What sets a combat veteran apart from others who suffer from PTSD is in the background of the trauma. While you don’t have to be in a war zone to have PTSD, the trauma related to a war zone is a far different one from other causes of PTSD. This isn’t to diminish the real life suffering and psychological effects of non-combat PTSD suffers; however, there is a far greater prevalence of PTSD as a result of combat than any other singular form of trauma.

Military lifestyle

One of the first major differences is in the entire lifestyle of those in the military. Regardless of what service you are attached to, be it Navy, Army, Air Force, or Marine from the moment you wake up to the when you hit the pillow at the end of the day (or days later) you have certain requirements that non-military people do not. Your life in the military is regulated every moment of every day; from when you can eat, to how your dress, to your physical fitness, to who you talk to and how you address other military personal. This is something that very few non-military people can relate to. Even in a combat zone, certain regulations must be upheld either as a security measure or as a result of a policy put in place by someone in command. For example, it is required that all lower enlisted soldiers stop and salute a higher ranking officer upon coming in contact with them. In a combat zone, this is not only frowned upon but can be seen as a hostile action towards the officer in questions otherwise known as “sniper checking.” The reason for this is that in a combat environment, you never know when a hostile enemy can be watching you. As a result this non-combat curtesy can let the enemy know who is a better target should they need to or want to attack. This is just an example of the many rules, regulations, and standard operating procedure that is the daily life of someone in the military.

Where lifestyle meets life altering event

While this strict regulation may seem harsh or unnecessary to those outside the military; this is the everyday culture that has been in place for many generations. However, when things go south these regulations kick in. The term conditioning comes into play a lot when it comes to the military and their training. The ultimate goal of any combat or even non-combat training is to make the process as easy and repeatable as possible. This way when a soldier enters into a high stress situation such as combat their instincts take over and the conditioning allows them to do whatever needs to be done with little or no thought towards what has to be done. This secondary high functioning brain as it may be called is like a back-up system. For many people, they will go their whole lives not having to deal with a situation that requires this need but for anyone that has to deal with life and death situations such as nurses, firefighters, or in this case a combat soldier, this secondary brain is the key to survival. However, as a result of this the primary brain has to deal with everything that happens when the secondary brain kicks in. Think of it in terms of a computer with two operating systems. In the event that the first operating system crashes, the secondary kicks in to get the primary back up and going. However, once the primary is back up you still have to deal with the issue that caused the crash in the first place.

Return to civilian life

This is where things start to fall apart for most combat soldiers. With the combination of factors addressed above on top of general societal factors; that can be all together foreign for someone who’s spent the majority of their adult life in the military, it is no wonder that many of these individuals have extensive problems once they are out. Even non-PTSD vets have a hard time adjusting to general civilian life. Add to it the stress, anxiety, guilt, etc. that accompanies having survived a combat related trauma makes it an almost impossible task for anyone to deal with alone. Additionally, because of the conditioning mentioned above, their brain can and sometimes does shift into secondary mode when there primary brain cannot handle a situation. This is often where “flashbacks” or violent reactions come into play for some people.

Conclusion

Suffering from PTSD is never a walk in the park for anyone. For a combat veteran it is a whole different ball game. Between the general PTSD trauma, the conditioning, and change in lifestyle from military to civilian many veterans suffer as a result. Thankfully there are a number of programs out there to address these individuals, however, until our societal views and beliefs related to psychological problems changes we can only do so much.

Picture: Flickr/DVIDSHUB

Blogishness, Blogishness, ptsd

What is Kratom? And how can it help veterans with PTSD?

large leaf plant kratom ptsdPTSD and the herb Kratom

In this day and age of pharmaceutical giants peddling a new drug every week and then spending the next several decades in court over litigation related to the drug, it’s hard to trust some of these medications. However, with the growing boom of home remedies and homeopathy more and more people are turning to natural cures. While some of these remedies for pain and other issues are still illegal or require a very specific prescription, there are other options on the market to help relieve suffers. Kratom, for example, is one of these newer natural remedies.

 What is Kratom?

Kratom, is a leafy plant indigenous to parts of Southeast Asia. This plant is often used for pain relief and to reduce and assist with the withdrawal symptoms from opioids. Kratom works in a very similar fashion to morphine. While the plant is chewed recreationally it does not produce heavy psychoactive or other major side effects. Additionally Kratom use has been tied to an increase in overall mood. Typical users in Thailand have been said to start around 25 and continue through the rest of their lives.

Kratom side effects

While general use of Kratom doesn’t produce major side effects, chronic use has been known to lead to such things as:

  • constipation
  • darkening of the skin color of the face
  • loss of appetite
  • weight loss

Additionally the addictive properties are not fully known but reports of those who inject opioids becoming addicted to Kratom have been noted.

More studies required

Currently there is little to no studies related to Kratom as its use is only just now becoming more prevalent. To add insult to injury many countries have taken legal action in regards to Kratom despite no evidence for or against its use. It is believed that many of these countries are over-reacting due to archaic and draconian beliefs related to similar substances. There are even those that believe the regulation and overzealous reactions are tied to extensive funding from pharmaceutical entities in an attempt to continue to monopolize the health care industries. While some of these beliefs are unfounded the truth of the matter is currently Kratom, its effects and use are not fully understood by the scientific community

Kratom for PTSD

 Compared to most PTSD or other anti-anxiety drugs, Kratom shows considerable promise in the treatment and management of the condition. While, like many psychological conditions, it will not cure the user it does allow them to retain a normal life while getting treatment. Unlike typical pharmaceutical treatments that can have a range of devastating side effects from agitations, hallucinations, or even increase in suicidal thoughts, Kratom is by far a greater option. However, as mentioned further study is still required, Kratom currently tends to work far better and have lesser side effects compared to traditional treatments. Most users describe the feeling as being in the moment. The past and future become irrelevant as you only focus on the here and now. It allows you to let go of any past trauma or any future worries. You only think about what needs to be done to improve your current situation. For people with PTSD this can be like coming out of a fog on a dark, overcast day to a world full of sunlight and smiling faces.

Kratom + therapy

As mentioned Kratom does not cure psychological problems like PTSD however, it does allow its users to better work though their past traumas objectively. This allows them to better understand the core of the trauma as well as address any potential underlying issues without the inherent anxiety or fear that is often prevalent when addressing the trauma. Compared to pharmaceutical remedies that, as mentioned, can have severe side effects in addition only help to mitigate issues tied to the trauma not help deal with the drama; it’s no wonder that some people believe the pharmaceutical industry is behind the blacklisting of this herb.

Conclusion

PTSD is a complicated psychological ailment with ties to other related psychological issues such as, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, etc. Dealing with one element of this all-consuming condition is akin to replacing the flat tires on a car with a busted engine. While pharmaceutical treatments do help mitigate some of the issues tied to PTSD they often only cover one maybe two per individual drug. In many cases people end up having to take 3 or more different drugs just to try and live some semblance of a normal life. Kratom, on the other hand deals with a lot of the issues tied to PTSD, while both causing minimal adverse effect as well as enhancing standard therapeutic treatment. Despite the misinformation campaigns and misguided anti-drug laws Kratom deserves a fair shot if for no other reason than to provide the peace of mind that all PTSD suffers long for and many cases outright deserve.

Picture: Flickr/Ahmad Fuad Morad

Politics / News, Politics / News, ptsd, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Uncategorized

Is PTSD Genetic? Can PTSD be passed onto my children?

ptsd uncle sam recruitment poster ptsdIs PTSD Genetic?

Can PTSD be passed onto my children?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric ailment that affects many people around the world. This stress disorder can affect anyone and it is typically caused by uncontrollable or unpredictable traumatic events. In most cases, PTSD symptoms appear after several days or hours of certain event. However, there are times that it takes up to few months or weeks for the symptoms to manifest themselves. Common PTSD’s causes may be because of sudden death of loved ones, assault, car or plane crashes, rape, war, natural disasters, kidnap, childhood neglect, physical abuse and other traumatic events.

“Avoiding being reminded of the event, including becoming detached from friends and becoming emotionally withdrawn, is another sign of PTSD.”

But can we tell just by taking a simple blood test if we are predisposed genetically to PTSD? This question has been the biggest issue internationally. International researchers have found a genetic marker that is linked to PSTD in the blood samples of the conflict zone based Marines. This team of researchers is studying to figure out who is more resilient to PTSD, and who is more at risk for PTSD.

Women are more likely to develop this stress disorder than men. Signs tend to cluster into three main areas. One is when a person relives the event through vivid images and nightmares together with an extreme reaction like heart palpitations, uncontrollable shaking and chills. Avoiding being reminded of the event, including becoming detached from friends and becoming emotionally withdrawn, is another sign of PTSD. The last main signs of this disorder are when a person is hyper aroused, irritable, startled easily, and/or has difficulty concentrating and trouble sleeping.

The idea that your genes play a role in whether you develop this stress disorder has been a famous focus of frequent research. Scientists have actually discovered, in mice, the genes that regulate fear. The lack of a brain chemical that is regulating the fear (which is called peptide that releases gastrin), led to fear response that is greater among rodents. In another study, mice that do not have a protein that is necessary to form the so called “fear memories”, have less tendency of freezing up and willing to explore unfamiliar spaces (think of the cartoon Tom and Jerry, and how Jerry (the mouse) wasn’t afraid of Tom the cat. This could have, realistically, been because Jerry lacked a certain protein in his brain that would’ve told him to be afraid of Tom). This is important to note because many people believe that PTSD is an unnatural response, but PTSD can often be a natural response to a somewhat unnatural situation. The brain is almost wired to respond in such a way.

“It’s been said that a single person with PTSD infects/affects/effects up to seven individuals with symptoms.”

There are also studies on twins which show that heredity is accounting for about 30 percent of the differences responding to trauma. Identical twins are much more likely to develop this stress disorder than the fraternal twins. Another research has looked into the role of inherited mental disorders, brain differences or tendencies of addiction.

An unusual research avenue is the contribution of our immune systems to the development of the symptoms of PTSD or if it has also a big role in this development. Prior studies showed that people who have been diagnosed with PTSD as compared to individuals without PTSD suggest that their differences in their genes in relation to inflammation, plays a role.

Therefore, there is a tendency that PTSD can be acquired genetically, however, there is no positive result as researchers are still going on progress of having some clues as to what may predict resilience and risk.

One thing to keep in mind about PTSD, is that even though it may or may not be genetic, a father or mother can still pass on PTSD to their children, and loved ones, through proximity. It’s been said that a single person with PTSD infects/affects/effects up to seven individuals with symptoms. Think of it as the flu. A father gets sick with the flu: he’s lethargic, has a fever, diarrhea, and he’s nauseous. Several days pass and the father’s son gets sick. The son has all the same symptoms as his father, he’s lethargic, nauseous, has diarrhea, etc. Then, the next thing you know, the sister gets sick, the mother, and the whole house is laid up in bed. Now, take that same scenario and imagine a man with PTSD. He’s irritable, short-tempered, has trouble sleeping, is anxious, and is emotionally withdrawn. How long do you think it’ll be before his short-temper and irritability is passed along to his wife and children?

In a sense, it’s the old nature vs nurture debate. Are we predisposed to PTSD or brought up into it?

Picture: Flickr/Ilona Meagher

Best Of, Blackout Poetry, Blogishness, ptsd, Uncategorized

Blackout Poetry: Veteran Suicides

Blackout Poetry Logo WarIn case you’re not familiar with Blackout Poetry, Blackout Poetry is the act of creating poems by blacking out words that appear in newspaper articles (or books, but typically newspaper articles). I was inspired to give it a shot after being introduced to it by Austin Kleon. I’ve got a six month subscription to The Army Times and I’ll be experimenting with it throughout the next few months.

 —Blackout Poetry veteran suicides

This was an article that appeared in the April 13th 2015 edition of The Army Times. The article discussed veteran suicides across active duty and reserve/national guard soldiers. In 2014 suicides decreased for active duty soldiers but increased for reserve soldiers. With 22 veterans killing themselves every day in the United States (we’ve lost two to suicide from the unit I served with in Iraq) this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. I tried to boil down the article into its major points and through the redaction process I came up with the poem pictures above (and transcribed below).

Suicides Up

Suicides confirmed

it was their own

hand.

Suicides Down

Service members

protect us

support them.

Crisis line, 800-273-8255

 For more military/war related blackout poetry click here.

To learn more about the war-time military experience check out the following book:

Best Of, Blogishness, Blogishness, Comedy, ptsd, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Uncategorized

PTSD: What to Do When Your Spouse has PTSD (Updated Version)- Best Ways to Treat PTSD

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of comments, and emails, about my blog post: PTSD What to do When Your Spouse has PTSD. There are a lot of resources out there to help our loved ones with PTSD, but some things have changed since I originally wrote the article, and the article wasn’t as in-depth and helpful as it should’ve been, so an updated version is in order.  (Also, since all of the comments and emails I’ve received have been related to PTSD for military personnel, this article will be in reference only to treatment of PTSD for active duty or prior service military personnel—although, I’m sure, it can apply to the populace in the civilian world also suffering with PTSD.)

  • First, and foremost, the primary point of contact for any vet suffering from PTSD should by their local VA.  The staff at the VA are trained to handle veterans with PTSD, and what’s great about seeking therapy or counseling from the VA, rather than a private organization, is that the VA employs a lot of prior service military personnel as their counselors and therapists.  And 100% of the time I hear from other vets, and in my own experience, that it’s always easier to talk to another vet whose “been there” and “done that,” rather than some random therapist or counselor who has no idea.
    • Also, the VA has special services for the spouses and family members of military personnel, so a wife, or husband, or children, can seek their own counseling as well.

With that said, I’ve also heard from a lot of vets that the services offered at the VA are severely lacking and not helpful.  So it may work for some, but not for others.

Sometimes for vets, who are used to a certain tempo of physicality, and who aren’t used to sharing their feelings, it can be too odd and unwelcoming to have to sit down and suddenly talk about their feelings.  The good news is that there are a lot of other options, and a lot of them are shown to work better than typical therapy.

  • Neurofeedback.  A lot of people aren’t familiar with neurofeedback but the military has been pouring millions of dollars into neurofeedback programs that can help veterans with PTSD—and there are places all across the U.S. that offer it free to veterans.
    • What is Neurofeedback?
      • Basically, a bunch of doctor’s hook up sensors to a person’s scalp and the sensors read the person’s brain activity.  They then hook the sensors up to a computer program and somehow, through the sensors and the computer program, a person’s brain can actually be rewired.
  • I’ve actually done neurofeedback before and it can actually be a fun type of therapy.  Basically it’s like playing a video game, but instead of having a controller in your hands, your brain controls the movements on screen, and the program trains your brain to act in a certain way and thus rewires the parts of the brain affected by PTSD.  EVERY veteran I know who’s used the program has been pleased with the results.  And best of all, it’s not like therapy AT ALL, you literally play videogames with your mind—yes, I’m serious!—and sometimes they let you watch movies instead and your brain controls when the movies stop and play and pause, etc.
  • Link to an organization that details all the different places where a veteran can get free neurofeedback: http://www.homecoming4veterans.org/

 veteran with ptsd

  • Meditation.  Recently there was an article in the Washington Post about Transcendental Meditation and its usefulness to veterans.  (Link here.)  Basically, the military has been conducting a lot of research into what they call a “mental toughness” program and a main tenement of that program is meditation.  Meditation allows a person to sit alone in a quiet space and just BE with themselves, and the military’s research has shown that soldiers who meditate are less likely to get PTSD, and in the instances that a person has PTSD, it can be an effective coping mechanism, either by itself or combined with another program.
    • Meditation is probably the hardest thing listed in this program.  Seeking therapy or counseling can be easy because all a person has to do is talk.  Neurofeedback can be easy, because like I said, it’s just like playing a videogame.  But meditation can be the hardest, because a person has to force themselves to sit still, and quiet, for an hour a day—without falling asleep.  It sounds easy.  But it can really be difficult, especially if a veteran has PTSD because of the images and memories of war they see when they sit still and close their eyes.  But luckily for this, too, there are programs all across the U.S. which are designed to teach someone how to meditate within a few short weeks.  (A book on meditation recommended by the military’s mental toughness program is: Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.)
  •  Another main tenement of the military’s mental toughness program and that has been shown to help with PTSD, is physical exercise.  Everyone knows the benefits of physical exercise on the body, but a lot of people aren’t aware of the benefits of physical exercise on the brain.  The military’s mental toughness program has shown that people, who exercise at least three times a week, are more adept at handling stress and dealing with emotional issues; and in separate studies, exercise has been shown to cure depression.  A fit body means a fit brain.  A lot of veterans who get out of the military often lose that physical part of their lifestyle, they may go from working out three times a week to only once, or none.  Lack of physical exercise takes as much a toll on a person’s body as it does their emotional state.
    • yoga for veterans with ptsdA good physical exercise that’s recommended for veterans suffering with PTSD is yoga.  Yoga can be very strenuous and physically demanding, and is often done in heated rooms over 100 degrees, and at the end of every yoga session there is a fifteen minute period of meditation.  With yoga a person will be able to combine two methodologies from the military’s mental toughness program.  They will have the purely physical component of the exercise and the mental component of the meditation.  It’s a win win.
  • There are many places and organizations that offer yoga free for veterans, and it’s usually done in a group format so it can be done with a spouse, but another great thing about yoga and meditation is that it can also be done in the comfort of one’s own house, which is always an added benefit.

The main thing to keep in mind when dealing with PTSD is that there ARE options.  It’s not like after the Vietnam War when the military and spouses and soldiers didn’t know what was going on; we know what’s going on now and there ARE cures.

Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir

In this dark humored War Memoir, Iraq veteran Michael Anthony discusses his return from war and how he defeated his PTSD. Civilianized is a must read for any veteran, or anyone who knows a veteran, who has returned from war and suffered through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

dark humored military memoir“An intense memoir.” -Kirkus

“I wont soon forget this book.” -Mary Roach

“A must read.” -Colby Buzzell

“[S]mart and mordantly funny.” –Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Anthony delivers a dose of reality that can awaken the mind…” Bookreporter

Order your copy of Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir .

Best Of, Blogishness, Blogishness, ptsd, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Self Improvement / Healthy Living, Uncategorized

PTSD: What to Do When Your Spouse has PTSD

Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a difficult and often dangerous mental condition for patients and those around them, the immediate family, the children and especially the spouse. PTSD happens when someone comes back from a truly horrible, violent or near-death experience. Something in the brain snaps; gets rewired and the person with PTSD has no choice but to relive those traumatizing moments physically, mentally and emotionally.

When undiagnosed or untreated, what happens later is an endless stream of coping or adapting to the partner’s bouts of depression and feelings of weakness or uselessness by continuously comforting the partner; of staying up late when the partner experiences horrible nightmares or night terrors related to the experience or even during the day; of being wary for sudden mood swings that sometimes become violent; and of juggling everyday activities like work and chores amidst the demands for attention.

PTSD is a mental condition that needs to be treated and it will simply not go away by hugs and kisses and promises that ‘everything is all right’. Here are some things that need to be done if you have a spouse with PTSD.

Seek professional help – Even though the prospect is hard to accept, your spouse needs professional help and later even you. As a mental condition, professional psychologists can help heal your partner’s troubled psyche and also prescribe the appropriate medication to ease the symptoms.

Set up a security plan – PTSD can be dangerous especially when your spouse experiences vivid waking nightmares or flashbacks. Your spouse can be dangerous to his/herself and everyone around him/her because your partner might be reliving an experience and might not be able to differentiate what’s real. Set up things like having a wireless phone anywhere in the house in case you need help, keep dangerous objects like knives and guns in places easily accessible only to you and practice a quick exit.

Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir

In this dark humored War Memoir, Iraq veteran Michael Anthony discusses his return from war and how he defeated his PTSD. Civilianized is a must read for any veteran, or anyone who knows a veteran, who has returned from war and suffered through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

dark humored military memoir“An intense memoir.” -Kirkus

“I wont soon forget this book.” -Mary Roach

“A must read.” -Colby Buzzell

“[S]mart and mordantly funny.” –Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Anthony delivers a dose of reality that can awaken the mind…” Bookreporter

Order your copy of Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir .

Check out some of our other posts on PTSD.

Main Updated Article: Best Ways to Treat PTSD for You or Your Spouse.

What To Do When Your Child Has PTSD.

What To Do When Your Spouse Has PTSD.

What To Do To Prevent PTSD.

Is PTSD genetic?