The conversation, questioning, exploring and understanding Post Traumatic Stress is the key to saving the lives of our warriors today, unlike many of our parents or grandparents from wars such as WWII, Korea and Vietnam to name a few. The Baby Boom Generation like myself have began discovering the war effects on their soldier fathers and family in:

A DAUGHTER’S HERO
COMES A SOLDIER’S WHISPER
RECONCILIATION, A SON’S STORY
THE HIDDEN LEGACY
THIRTY DAYS WITH MY FATHER

We have discovered each other and united in our similar paths in understanding and connecting the dots that shaped and molded our lives. We are not alone. Although our stories are unique and different, the message is the same. We were changed by our father’s wartime experiences. War changes the soldier. It changes his family too. Let us begin to understand and heal our warriors and their families of today, so we can all move on to a brighter and happier America.

The following is taken from an article written by Denise William with the link at the end to follow subsequent articles about this important topic that affects America.
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President George W. Bush made a statement that is long overdue.
In his remarks at The Bush Institute’s Empowering Our Nation’s Warriors Summit on Feb. 19, 2014 he said,” As most doctors will tell you, post-traumatic stress is not a disorder. Post-traumatic stress, or PTS, is an injury that can result from the experience of war. And like other injuries, PTS is treatable.” He also said something I and others have been saying for a long time, “Treatments exist for PTS”, he said, “just like they do for diabetes.”

This is significant, both taking the word ‘Disorder’ out of the name, as well as the comparison to diabetes. Like diabetes, Post-Traumatic Stress is a condition that can occur as a result of a body’s natural response to unnatural conditions. Neither biological response is in the control of the individual, but more importantly, both genetic factors.

Post Traumatic Stress can be effectively cured. Like the pancreas, the damaged nerves don’t regenerate, however new neural pathways can form. While the various associated systems in body will remain more acutely sensitive to new trauma, the damaged or malfunctioning parts are functionally repaired. Post Traumatic Stress is therefore not a lifelong, permanent diagnosis or condition.

When faced with a life threatening situation, the human body goes through a series of changes and events. These include the release of massive amounts of hormones and chemicals that allow us to function in ways beyond what is needed in ordinary situations. They cause our vital organs and brains, our muscles and nervous systems to act and react in ways they are not designed to function at for sustained periods. The effects of these chemicals and hormones allow a mother to lift a car off the body of her child. Or a soldier to run uphill, carrying a buddy whose weight matches his own even though he was moments before physically exhausted. But there is a price to pay, physically, for these superhuman feats of strength and endurance.

To better understand that price let’s look at what actually happens, physiologically, when we experience that fight or flight moment, as it’s called. This is an admitted gross oversimplification. You perceive a threat. Before your conscious mind can process the exact nature of the threat and the best course of action, your brain and body kick into gear. The hypothalamus sends a chemical signal to the pituitary, telling it to release other chemicals. Simultaneously, the hypothalamus sends both electrical and chemical signals to the adrenal glands, directing release of epinephrine, which causes a release of cortisol into the bloodstream. The brain stem also reacts immediately, releasing norepinephrine. All of these chemical releases and electrical signals cause other reactions in the body. In short, your body readies itself to either stand and fight or take flight.

When you are repeatedly exposed to danger or a perceived threat, these reactions occur even faster. Think of it like a conditioned response; you’ve experienced this or a similar set of circumstances before. Your body and subconscious responds again as it did then, both because it is part of our primal programming and because that response was successful in the past. The proof is that you are alive to face this threat once again. The human body is incredibly delicate even while it is incredibly resilient. It doesn’t take much to damage but given the right amount of space, time and support, can generally heal itself. This is a thought that is very important to bear in mind when discussing PTS.

This short circuiting is Post Traumatic Stress. These physiological changes are what is occurring in the bodies of those who have gone through repeated episodes of life threatening danger. This is not a mental disorder. It is quite literally, “…an impairment of the normal state…” of the functioning of the human body.

~ Denise Williams
Article Text Source: chicagonow.com/uncommon-sense/2014/06/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-definition-20140605/ …

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COMING SOON: Comes A Soldier’s Whisper VIETNAM & Beyond, A Veteran’s Reflections

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