Another quote from Staff Sergeant Old School that’s spot on. I was never in a rifle platoon, but I did serve in the U.S. army and work in a medical unit in Iraq. And I can tell you from first hand experience, that even in war, I never laughed harder than with some of my army buddies. You’re working 24hour shifts, going weeks without down-time, you’re starving, tired, pissed-off, and yet you still somehow find yourself able to laugh with your friends–even if it is about how tired, starving, and pissed off you all are.
Some of you may already know this about me, but for those of who don’t, a while back I gave stand-up-comedy a shot. It was an intense experience! Standing in front of a crowd, with only five minutes to win them over, it was one hell of a ride. In the end though, it turned out that stand-up-comedy wasn’t for me. It was a fun experiment, and I got to make some fun videos and meet some interesting people, but it turned out that I enjoyed writing jokes more than I did performing them.
In the writing of jokes though, there’s something that’s bothered me for years. Sometimes a joke pops into my head. It’s brilliant. It’s genius. The funniest thing I ever came up with. But is it really my joke? Did I come up with it? Or am I just remembering, or paraphrasing, a joke I heard a few weeks ago, or even months ago?
I know I’m not the only one with this problem, but over the year’s whenever I’ve consulted Dr. Google to find out if my joke is original or not, I’ve gotten little help in being able to discover if it is indeed an original joke.
Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas on ways to figure it out?
There are dozens of rumors circulating around veterans that suffer from PTSD but it is commonly known that you will never truly understand their symptoms until you’re living with a sufferer. Helping your spouse who is dealing with PTSD can be one of the most fulfilling things in both of your lives and it can help to strengthen your marital bond more than ever before. Below are some tips that you can use to your advantage to help your veteran deal with this debilitating mental condition until they are able to receive professional help.
How PTSD Affects Relationships
When your veteran comes home, you may notice that they are exhibiting telltale signs of PTSD. These symptoms can be responsible for a variety of issues in your relationship including: loss of trust, loss of closeness, inability to communicate, and issues with problem solving. They will act differently around you and patterns may develop that could harm your entire relationship.
Providing Social Support
Making sure that veterans with PTSD have the social support that they need is essential to make sure that they are able to work through their symptoms of the illness. The more meaningful relationships that they have, the higher their self-esteem will be which will make them more likely to seek professional help. You may also find that your veteran will begin helping others which can help to reduce their personal feelings of failure. Making sure that you’re there for them at the end of every day is also essential for eliminating any stress.
Seeking Professional Help
It is important that you take the necessary steps to make sure that your spouse gets the professional attention that they need. Even if you have begun to see positive signs of their behavior changing, a professional evaluation is invaluable. You should work together to find a professional therapist in your area that specializes with PTSD to help your spouse know that they are in good hands. You may also want to consider finding a therapist that works with couples and families as it is a mental disease that affects everyone around the survivor.
The therapist that you work with may suggest a variety of treatments including:
Group Therapy
Stress and Anger Management
Couples Counseling
Family Therapy
Assertiveness Training
Family Education Classes
Making sure that your family is prepared for the long journey ahead of you and your spouse is essential for ensuring that they can easily assimilate back into civilization.
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. Civilianizedis 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).
“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
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. Civilianizedis 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).
“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
