VETERANS / PTSD RECOVERY
Traumatic and painful experiences are by and large a component of life. Yet, when hit by a blindingly intense experience that is too much to comprehend consciously, there can be the need to suppress the experience. If left unattended, the emotional pain behaves just like a physical wound to the body. This can expand beyond the initial point of entry to other areas, spreading infection unless treated. The methods prescribed by modern medicine could be described as a band-aid not large enough to cover the seeping gashes of a wounded soul. There is no one method that cures PTSD. Each person needs to be fully engaged in their healing with a variety of options that fit their individual needs.
My path into this stems from familiarity. I was enlisted in the U.S. Army in the early 1980’s. During my service as military police, I responded to high speed chases, pulled a dying soldier out of an overturned armored personnel carrier(I was the smallest person able to dig under the machinery, open the hatch and pull him out), calmed bar fights, responded to the protestors objecting our involvement in El Salvador, retrieved a decapitated head from a traffic accident, waded through flooded streets to help stranded civilians, and assisted in taking down a highly combative suspect resisting arrest (due to the substances they had ingested). The inventory of my memory could continue. My experiences in this role were enough to bring a deep interest in and passion for the warrior’s welfare. My son returned from serving in Iraq this past summer, another compelling reason to take this path of inquiry.
This journey with the warrior intersects for me through my mindfulness and meditation teachings, my art, and my educational background (an MA in Transpersonal Psychology). These paths of study have all led to a deeper knowing of how the mind, body, spirit connect to create awareness, compassion and interconnection to self and others.
A warrior must be armed mentally and spiritually in order to fulfill the duties our society expects of them. The military system thus far is lacking in this particular mind/spirit training before and subsequently, after the battle. This is when the real struggle begins for the warrior… coming home to self.