A Soledad O’Brien Report…
The outer shell of him came back. But everything on the inside was dead.
Emme Beckett
The War Comes Home…A CNN Special Report… Click for story and video clip…a must see! Quote from the story…
Clark said many of the men and women in his program have tried to commit suicide and had frightening near misses. Attempted suicide by cop, attempted hangings, car crashes, some even tried to kill themselves at home in the company of family or friends. Clark was there himself, no job and struggling in recovery. His experience and those of his friends are what prompted him to scrape up the money to try developing a program.”
“The meditation keeps me sober,” Beckett said of the central technique in the program. “It was only 5½ days but I learned things for my whole life.” One of the things he learned was that there is power in sharing your problem with other warriors.
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The combat veteran who suffered from trauma as a child is considered a much higher risk for compounded post trauma symptoms and PTSD. As a US Navy military child growing up in the 1950’s and early 1960’s living with a father who braved all of WWII in hard combat and a tour of duty during the Korean War…I was already affected with the symptoms of PTSD when joining the US Navy in 1963…but didn’t have a clue. I didn’t even experience combat but was diagnosed with symptoms of severe depression and anxiety while serving in the Navy anyway. I am a strong believer in alternative treatment strategies that include the entire family. Otherwise, it is very difficult if not impossible to stop the intergenerational cycle of pain connected with trauma survivors.
The treatment strategies outlined in this documentary are designed to treat the combat veteran trauma survivor as well as family members. While visiting the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, NMex (click highlighted text for more) in May the clinical psychologists and psychiatrists present during my talk, shared that they think about the need for including the entire family in treatment, but sadly, only have the resources to treat veterans individually, excluding the family as whole.
Don’t let your veteran go it alone once on the journey of “coming home.” Coming home can never be a reality until the trauma survivor finally feels peace of mind, self worth, and a productive member of society who can love and be loved again. Rebuilding trust is the true test of finally coming home permanently…
Steve Sparks, Author, Reconciliation: A Son’s Story and My Journey of Healing in Life After Trauma, Part 1… Click highlighted text for my author page…
