Just Get Over It Already!

     Earlier this week, my book club ladies and I were discussing a novel about a vet returning from Afghanistan and the struggles she had to face. One lady wanted to know more about what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is exactly. 

(Disclaimer, I have been diagnosed with PTSD by several health professionals.)

     What is PTSD?  You can get it from living through a war, fighting in a war, experiencing any trauma as a civilian - or you might not. The same violent experience shared by any number of individuals might cause anxiety afterwards -- or it may not.

     For instance: you live in a neighborhood. Most of the people are great but you have that one guy down the street that regularly speeds past your home and blows through the school bus stop. Then there's the neighbor who has a pitbull. It's constantly digging in your yard. It ate another neighbor's cat-- alive. One day "Speedy" is floor-boarding it when Brutus jumps out between the garbage cans he was snacking from.  Even though he swerves his vehicle, the driver hits the dog with an audible thud and then strikes a tree. The man hits his head on the steering wheel on impact. Parts of Brutus go EVERYWHERE. Speedy gets out, checks his grill, curses & picks some fur out. He begins to rub his forehead. He’s not even sure whose blood he’s seeing when he pauses and looks at his hands! Realization hits the young man --what he thought was garbage in the street is actually a dog.

    Some people go on mowing their lawns. Other neighbors run to the driver. His mom gets to the crash. She's screaming. The dog's owners start arguing. Love them or hate them, at the scene there's two obvious victims, and unseen, maybe more!

     Some citizens are noticeably bothered, but in days, they are breathing easy. Some people go on for weeks and months, though, reliving the shared trauma. Every other night, Speedy wakes up screaming because he and Brutus were best buds even though the dog lived several homes away. Night after night he relives the moment he discovers what he thought was garbage knocked over was actually the dog he saw grow from a puppy to a goofball of a canine. Some neighbors are happy because the guy's driving slower since the crash & the pitbull that was allowed to run lose is gone. One or two homeowners, although relieved, are triggered by the sound of screeching tires in the market parking lot, or the sight of an animal dead on the roadside.

                                                   ***   Just Get Over It Already!  ***

     Some people down the street tell them to just get over it, but it's not that easy. My friends, that is PTSD. It is mental, physical and sadly, by extension, social. There is NO SHAME in it. We who actually suffer from PTSD put on a brave face in many cases because we’re told to “just get over it,” and to move on. Inside we are in turmoil struggling not to relive the trauma that is trapped in our souls; desperately trying to avoid triggers. In many cases we self-medicate along with therapy and medical intervention. Years of therapy. Years of doctor visits--

                                                           IT DOES NOT GET BETTER!

     We don’t need judgement. We need prayers and hugs. We need guidance, not shunning. We need programs that we paid taxes for to NOT be diverted to other programs, many of which are fraudulent.

 

     Thank you for your time.