Military PTSD HELP!

[HappyAlone]

if there are any military specialized therapists out there - please message me.
or if you've gone thru major trauma over seas and got the help you needed - message me to help me find help for my friend.
I'd post what's going on here but it's not my life to put on the internet. but i dont know what else to do. my friend needs help very badly. He's been contemplating suicide and using what happened over there to drink very very heavily on a daily basis and the suicide talk gets worse when he drinks.

 

[COCK_STAR]

Call the va

 

[fire_breeze]

As much as it pains me to agree with the above poster, you must call either VA or a professional. Even your friend's primary physician or the local police would be a better option. Your friend needs help now and even if there were psychiatrists who specialises in PTSD on the forum, no one worth his/her salt will give you an in-depth analysis or help. It will have tremendous legal and ethical implications and it may even have the therapist's license revoked.

Call a hotline, VA, the primary caregiver, the psych ward of your local hospital or even the police, but do not attempt to "save" your friend. You are not qualified to do so.

Best of luck.

 

[desertslave]

http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

This site has some excellent information for getting help and helping others to get help. Good luck to you and your friend.

 

[gotherella]

first i must say i am not a pdoc just a sufferer, my ptsd is not military but i used to suffer with it to the point of suicide attempts,it is now under control, but without any doubt he has to get professional help right now, all the love and care you give someone will not stop the flashbacks etc, when they happen it is the worst thing and i can understand the drinking and suicidal feelings, if he is ok to talk then any talking therapy might help but i would really recommend cognitive behavioural therapy, it really helped me, and he should not have to go into details of what is causing the ptsd if he does not want to, it will help to give him grounding techniques to get back to the now from flashbacks as it can be really difficult to recognise you are not there any more when they happen and hopefully help him to recognise what sets things off and give him techniques to try and keep him in the now, mindfulness techniques can help, and it takes a long time there is no quick fix, but he needs to see a professional right now.

 

[silverwhisper]

HA: how are things now?

ed

 

[GorgeousGeekGirl]

This was covered at my vfw meeting last night. Hotline 877-WAR-VETS. It is manned 24/7 by actual combat veterans, not bullshit shrinks with theories from books. Please, don't hesitate to act

 

[VA_Boy]

Check your local government agencies as well. Here in Ohio each county has a "Veteran Service Officer" who is knowledgeable about all kinds of services (including mental health). Sometimes its easier to talk one on one with a human being than interfacing websites and calling 800 #'s. Anybody else besides me get lost in the shuffle by people who don't seem to care?

I know there are many veterans on here like me that feel for you're friend. Hope this is helping.

 

[Bottomlover]

This was covered at my vfw meeting last night. Hotline 877-WAR-VETS. It is manned 24/7 by actual combat veterans, not bullshit shrinks with theories from books. Please, don't hesitate to act

^^^^^^^
This.

The current administration is scared to death of veterans and is using information from the VA to forever deny certain rights. Definitely get help, but use the VA as only a last resort. If he goes to the VA for help, he will be forever prohibited from owning any firearms, even a .22 for varmint control or hunting. This is the current administration's shameful policy.

Getting him to seek help to stop drinking is a good first step. Drinking and problems is a very fast downward spiral. There are verterans' groups that are not affiliated with the government that can help. See if any of your local veterans' groups has an AA meeting - even if your friend is not into the AA thing, they probably know of resources that are available.

 

[njlauren]

Happy-
Others have given a list of resources, plus I believe if you look online there are therapist and psychologist's organizations dedicated to helping vets with PTSD, they should help. While I think talking to other veterans who are combat veterans can help I don't think the old pull yourself up by your shoelaces approach is a replacement for professional help. No matter how helpful sharing things with others in the same boat is, whether it be fellow people suffering from PTSD or a transgender support group, getting professional help is important, and it isn't all "psychobabble". Keep in mind that it took until Vietnam for PTSD to be recognized as a serious issue and it was psychiatrists and psychologists to recognize it for what it was and try and treat it, rather than the military attitude that if a guy cracked, he was weak or a coward or whatnot (anyone remember Patton slapping the kid in the hospital?). Treatments like EMDR were developed originally to work with military PTSD sufferers, as were a number of the cognitive behavioral therapy now widely used if my memory serves me right (I am certain it is true with EMDR).

I wish you luck, the best thing you can do for your friend is be there for him and encouraging him to get help.

 

[Worker11811]

Definitely get help but also know that half the battle is to know you have it. Once you know you have it, you can learn to recognize the feelings you get when you start to have a flashback before they turn into a full-blown episode.

Think of it like having a headache. When you feel a headache coming on, do you wait until your head feels like it is splitting open before you take an aspirin? No, you take aspirin before it gets too bad. Same thing with PTSD.

The difference is that you can't take a pill to make PTSD go away. You have to learn how to reduce your stress before it gets out of hand.

Let's say you are in a car and something starts to skitch you out. You need to learn how to recognize when you are getting anxious BEFORE you lose control. Maybe all you need to do is pull off the highway and stop for a minute. Maybe you can go to the drive thru at McD and get a milkshake. Maybe just take a different route next time.

Also, when you get the skitch, find somebody you trust and tell him. Use a code word. My code word was "red light", "yellow light" or "green light". I told my trusted person I was green if I am good, yellow if I am feeling anxious and red if I am about to lose it. We could be talking and I could say, "Dude, you are giving me red lights!" He would know to back off. He could also ask me whether I was having a red light moment.

The trick is not to wait until you are getting flashing red lights with sirens. Learn to catch yourself before you go red. When you learn to do that, try to catch yourself when you start to see a yellow light.

When you get those red light moments, write them down so you'll remember and take them to your shrink. Talk about the situations and discuss what happened and how you felt. Also talk about them with your trusted sponsor.

From that point, everything is between you and your shrink.

BTW. I was not military. My deal comes from abuse. It's not the same thing, I know, but I understand a bit. My deal comes from getting my ass beat. Your deal comes from shit getting blown up. Your deal is about a million times worse than mine. You guys have my fucking respect!

Bottom line is, you can beat this shit. If pussy-ass me can do it, badass you can do it!

 

[ShavedGuyFor69]

a friend of mine is taking relaxation martial arts like tai chi and says it has worked wonders. Definately get professional help either through a medical pro or the hotline mentioned above