Vets' corner: The phenomena of PTSD
All around us is a condition medical science refers to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The term is fairly new and few even know what it is. A close friend died not to long ago who went by the name of “Bee Keeper.” He was quite secretive about his medical conditions but claimed he had PTSD. He was a veteran.
Before he died, he gave this columnist a book on the subject: “I Can’t Get Over It, A Handbook for Trauma Survivor’s," by Aphrodite Matsakis, Ph.D. specialist in PTSD.
Bee Keeper was an enigma to many of us because we did not understand this new diagnosis he told us about. His greater moments were when he volunteered at the Southwest New Mexico Transition Center for the food distribution to veterans. He acted like a top sergeant and so I put him to work calling out numbers. He loved his job. Another one of his joys was Saturday breakfast at a local restaurant where he could voice his opinions on all sorts of subjects. He never let on that he was dying of cancer. It was a shock to us all but he did enjoy those get-togethers with friends and picking up the entire tab. He did mention PTSD a few times but we were all in the dark as we listened contently.
Matsakis states: “If you suspect that you suffer from PTSD, do not be alarmed. PTSD is an entirely normal reaction to an abnormal amount of stress. Having PTSD does not mean you are mentally ill, nor does it mean that you are weak or somehow deficient … The symptoms of PTSD are not in someones head or a play for attention. Rather they are the aftereffects of an event or series of events severe enough to profoundly alter a person’s thinking, feeling, and physical reactions.” (pg. 2)
As you progress through the book, you will come to realize you are not alone. PTSD has been related to war and solders but the realization is that police officers and other people who work in a highly stressful profession can suffer from PTSD. She states: “You do not need to go on for years in this condition, however, a single life and death incident lasting as little as a few seconds can be enough to traumatize you. In those few moments, your emotions, identity, and sense of world as an orderly, secure place can be severely shaken and shattered. The rupture can be so profound that, try as you might, you just “can’t get over it." (pg. 3)
I, myself, am recovering from a near-death experience of a year ago. Falling eight feet to the concrete on my back, hitting a water tank on the way down, I would say I had a bit of trauma to my head and I was out for four days. After spending four weeks in the hospital, my strategy was to replay the incident over and over again with calm until I could replay the accident as it really happened. When I got home, it took awhile before I could go to the spot where I fell. I no longer have the vision of falling and I go out to the well house every day without stress. Short-range memory has been a problem.
Some of the symptoms of PTSD are depression, fear, addiction to drugs, loud noises and pain. Because of my faith I did not suffer fearful thoughts or depression, I got off the drugs as fast as I could and I only suffer slight pain. I thank God for pain relievers.
Whether it is war overseas or war in the streets of our cities, PTSD can be managed if you get help soon enough. Prescription drugs can help you manage your condition. Until my own accident and trauma, I had no idea of what Bee Keeper was experiencing.