| Please support my mission of helping families who suffer from PTSD and moral injury…order my book, Reconciliation: A Son’s Story. Click and order paperback or download Kindle version. Buy my book at Barnes & Noble as well… Thank you! Steve Sparks, Author
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| Blue Shield Against Domestic Violence |
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| We can prevent violence in military families!
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Preventing violence in military families… Quote from this website article…
“Many of the almost 2 million Americans who have served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan come home with serious mental health injuries. RAND Corporation’s 2008 breakthrough report, “Invisible Wounds of War,” estimates that of the veterans who have returned from these conflicts, nearly one in five has symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, and 19 percent have a possible traumatic brain injury (TBI). More recent figures from the Department of Veteran Affairs suggest that these numbers have almost doubled. These alarming numbers among returning veterans make them and their families vulnerable to family violence. To help prevent combat veterans from bringing the violence they’ve experienced overseas into their homes, we’ve supported the following organizations and activities:”
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Domestic violence is a reality in many military families, especially with the severe stress of multiple deployments and combat duty. In my own generation following WWII, there was virtually no awareness, help, or escape from the often violent home and family culture that was ever present. As kids during this time, we had to “suck it up,” which resulted in lifetime emotional damage to family members and loved ones who carried secondary PTSD and complex PTSD forward without treatment. Although it is still a challenging 21st Century home culture in military families who serve in combat, it is a new day… Military families have help available 24/7…no more excuses. If there is motivation at all for military families to seek treatment, it is to protect your children from lifelong emotional damage that comes from being exposed day in and day out to violent domestic circumstances…
As referenced and discussed in the link… “Guiding the Path – from Surviving to Thriving… Jenesse Center, a longstanding Foundation grantee, is taking a holistic approach to domestic violence intervention and prevention. Not just a shelter, Jenesse provides survivors with a way out, and a way forward.”
I have been writing in this blog and speaking often about “surviving and thriving” in life after trauma. We are survivors but must thrive on the journey of healing. Some say there is no cure for PTSD. I say the cure is a work in progress involving “mindfulness” techniques and effective treatment strategies that keep the pain of past trauma at a safe distance. We must do more to help military families as a whole, especially children, to eventually break the inter generational cycle of pain and challenges of PTSD.
Steve Sparks
Author
Reconciliation: A Son’s Story click to order…
