Oct

31

STRENGTH OF SPOUSES

Filed Under Combat PTSD, Healing, Spouse, Stress, TBI & PTSD, Tears of a Warrior, Trauma, War | Comments Off on STRENGTH OF SPOUSES

by Janet J. Seahorn, Ph.D

In the past few years, I’ve written countless blogs on the strength and endurance of our veterans. However, the other side of that coin is the strength and endurance of their spouses. Several days ago we received an e-mail from a spouse who had heard about us and our book through an article that appeared as a Wyoming magazine article. She wrote about the challenges of married life with her veteran husband. A situation that became even more desperate after he suffered a traumatic brain injury (not from combat) that she wrote, “took him totally out of commission”. The e-mail went on to describe how other people did not see the depth of his many wounds, but she was faced with them daily enduring aggressive behaviors and foul language.

The injury occurred in 1998, but it was not until 2001 that the situation became too difficult to bear. I was his sole caregiver & therapist.  When things got bad, I was the human standing in front of him as his anger came out. 

… There were many days of not sleeping and warding off his craziness.  In the first two years after his head injury, we almost lost the house twice.  We literally lived in a wooden tent – the house was emptied out of furniture and appliances as the sheriff’s department kept impounding our possessions because we couldn’t pay our bills – possessions which ended up on the court house steps selling for $1.  My daughter and I sought safe shelter six times in those two years to get away from him and his outbursts – the first time was on her 10th birthday.

            One may think, wow, this sounds pretty darn extreme, yet, due to the lack of available resources in her area, obtaining services was nearly impossible. Her state of affairs is not unlike many of our returning military people and their families. Many spouses are drained of energy trying to keep their loved one out of jails and mental health institutions. What makes her story even more thought-provoking is her educational credentials, during all the turmoil she went back to school and obtained a Master’s degree in mental health. Yet, she has had to fight her own demons brought on by the many years of being exposed to an unpredictable and toxic home environment.

            With her educational background she states, I have dissected trauma and I understand the roots of it more than most people.

            And perhaps, her most profound statement,

Unfortunately, the war doesn’t stop when they come home.  They never leave the ambush; it can haunt them for the rest of their lives.  They are eventually removed from the war situation and are not confronted with that type of environment every day (other than their memories).  Their spouses and children aren’t so lucky.  They too have to live with the aftermath of war.

            Thank you, Carol, for your introspective thoughts, your daily courage, and your persistence to keep going even when it would be easier to give up. You are certainly one of our country’s many amazing military spouse.

Oct

29

The Grim Reaper: TBI Can Be a Spooky Demon

Filed Under Brain Injury, Trauma | Comments Off on The Grim Reaper: TBI Can Be a Spooky Demon

by Janet J. Seahorn

grim_reaper

Several weeks ago I talked about going to a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) conference and promised I’d write more about what I learned.  Now I feel like the Grim Reaper explaining the various causes and symptoms of a TBI.

  Luckily, being Halloween, perhaps the trick is dealing aggressively with the spooks of TBI injuries and the treat is getting better with focus and determination.

Much of this information is taking from a brochure, Brain Injury: How to Recognize and Treat It, by Harvey Jacobs, Ph.D. and Flora Hammond, M.D.

So let’s talk about some of the “tricks” of a TBI.  First, it can be due to many causes: falls, car accidents, sports, blasts/explosions, strokes, viruses, or aneurysms (weak spots in the walls of the brain’s arteries and veins). 

Since many of our war vets have experienced a TBI mainly from an outside force, I will concentrate on this area.  If the force is powerful enough, it can cause bleeding in the brain, bruising, and/or tearing of the brain cells.

 “Once a traumatic brain injury occurs,” according to the experts, “there is risk of additional damage over the next several days due to lack of oxygen or reduced blood flow or medical complications”.   When a blast occurs due to an IED or other combat offenses, the shock waves move through the brain and injure the soft brain tissue causing cell damage.  The person doesn’t have to be unconscious to encounter a TBI, but the results can be quite damaging, nevertheless. 

Another trick of this demon is that no two injuries are exactly alike due to the location, size, and impact of the TBI; cells can begin to die within four minutes of losing oxygen because of the impact.  Sometimes, if the injury does not appear severe or life threatening it can be missed, yet the results are nothing short of problematic. 

The person,” according to Jacobs and Hammond, “may appear dazed or just a little confused for a brief time and then return to work or usual activities.  Problems may develop later.”  Often times other people notice the problems first, like a spouse, close friend, or employer. What they may notice is problems in the person’s short-term memory, difficulty in organizing and planning, shorter attention span or easily distracted, unclear speech, irritation, anxiety, depression, and other cognitive or emotional behaviors that weren’t present before the injury. Therefore, getting proper diagnosis and treatment is essential to restoring an individual to health and normal activity.

 This Grim Reaper can’t leave you with such a dismal TBI spook, so take heart and recognize that help is available. There are more effective and innovative treatments than ever before if treatment begins immediately.  Time is crucial. Don’t wait.  The major part of the brain’s mending normally takes place within the first two years of the injury, but the brain can continue to mend far beyond that time. 

 Trust me, having experienced a mild TBI many years ago, I kept engaged with as many cognitive and physical activities as possible and this made all the difference with being able to return to a normal life – the best treat ever.

Oct

13

Brain Trauma, Soul Trauma

Filed Under Brain Injury, TBI & PTSD, Trauma | Comments Off on Brain Trauma, Soul Trauma

by Janet J. Seahorn

tbiOK, here is something to ponder; can Brain Trauma cause Soul Trauma? 

By “brain trauma”, I mean a traumatic brain injury, a verifiable medical condition caused by some insult to the brain, i.e., car accident, falling, hitting one’s head, being in or close to an IED explosion, shaken baby syndrome, stroke… and the list goes on. 

Every year over 1.5 million Americans experience some type of traumatic brain injury (TBI). 

Personally, I believe the number is higher, as many incidents never get reported because no one knows or realizes that such a trauma has occurred.  Which is why all of the information on TBI makes me muse over what actually goes on in the brain/mind, body, and soul when it has been injured?

I think about the mind and wonder how such a magnificent organ can be in command of so much in a person: body, emotions, perceptions…

I think about the soul and wonder how such an invisible concept can make such a difference in one’s life; a difference that gives one strength, courage, and hope to make it through some truly desperate times.

I think about how anyone who experiences a restructuring of the brain after some internal or external trauma can move forward in ways that are nothing short of miraculous.  A healing that leaves the brain changed, but the person still functioning.

I think about how the soul and spirit must somehow be part of the healing that takes place in the organ called the brain.  How the soul/spirit may give some kind of divine direction to the mind that allows it to mend.  In many cases it may not mend itself back to its original state but reorganizes in such a manner that perhaps enhances the individual with greater compassion, humility, and fearlessness.

I’d like to believe that angels watch over us and it is this entity that connects the mind, soul, and heart.  Noah benShea thoughtfully noted, “Faith sees around corners”.  Maybe these celestial beings are also within the corners of our battered minds, soothing, comforting, and mending.

Most days, though, I am just immensely appreciative that something more powerful than I can ever imagine is taking some charge over all of our well-being, perhaps from that place we call Heaven.

May

29

Where are you?

Filed Under American Patriotism | Comments Off on Where are you?

soldier-tears-72564711-getty2It was early in the evening, a time when most of us were looking forward to some rest and dinner with our families. A time when we finally had a few minutes for conversation and catching up on each other’s day. In an American town, the police were responding to a domestic disturbance where they arrested a young man who was later charged with drug possession. The drug was an anti-anxiety medicine. Unfortunately, the prescription was not in this person’s name. Opps! This became a Class C felony for a young veteran whose picture of his Iraq experience appeared on Time magazine only weeks before.

For him, like many vets, the combat zone was never far from his mind and heart. Upon returning home, problems continued to plaque the young man. He had difficulty keeping a job, couldn’t seem to stay away from drugs and alcohol, ended up in jail on more than one occasion, and become divorced within two years. Living became too torturous to bear until finally his mother received the news that no mother ever wants to receive.

She had to bury her son too young, too soon.

Stories like this are more numerous than many Americans recognize or acknowledge. An article from the McCormick Foundation stated, “Statistics indicate that approximately 300,000 veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, and about 320,000 may have experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI) during deployment (Lisa H. Jaycox and Terri Tanielian, Invisible Wounds of War, Rand Corporation, 2008).”  The battle for peace of mind becomes even more challenging for many military individuals upon returning from war.  Most never talk about their experience. Most rarely let others see how complicated it is to live a “normal” existence.  Most never complain.

So think about when a warrior dies alone on a battle field far from home, where are you? When he/she returns home and can’t sleep at night because of the flashbacks and nightmares, where are you? When a mother weeps for a son or daughter she will never again hold in her arms, where are you? When a vet is living homeless on your city’s streets because he can’t seem to hold a job or clear his head of the dreadful memories, where are you?

For most, you are at work, at home, on vacation, living your life in a fairly peace-filled manner, even given our current economic upheaval, you are free. You are safe. And you are whole in mind, body, and spirit. Our veterans gave all of that up for you, for me, for others around the world. Be sure to thank a vet. Be sure to say a prayer for their healing. Oh, and extend a Thank You to the family, because everyday they are giving up their own sense of peace and well-being.