proofonline.org » PTSD

Govt: Suicides Don’t Deserve Condolence Letter

Douglas Faneuil — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:43:53 +0000

If an American soldier is wounded and then dies or is killed immediately in Iraq or Afghanistan, the President of the United States and The Secretary of Defense write a condolence letter to the family. However, if an American soldier is wounded physically and /or psychologically during his action in Iraq or Afghanistan and then commits suicide there is no letter of condolence written to his or her family by the President and the Secretary of Defense. There are now more suicides among our combat troops than all those killed by enemy fire in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

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Maybe People Need to See Scars

Douglas Faneuil — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:30:31 +0000

I hate having to use disabled parking,” she said. “I see how people look at me, and I know what they’re thinking. ‘What makes that weirdo think she can park there?’ Sometimes they ask me what I’m doing parked in one of those spaces.”

“What do you tell them?” I asked.

“I just walk away,” she said.

“Why don’t you tell them the truth?” I asked. “Why don’t you look them in the eye and say, ‘I’ve had to park in handicapped spaces since I got back from Iraq, because now I can’t walk past a row of cars without thinking that one of them is going to blow up in my face.”

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Combat Stress Missions in the Warzone

Douglas Faneuil — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:22:26 +0000

So I think about our day-to-day treating folks here, and then I also think about and hope that the folks that we just had contact with… maybe when they need to get treatment when they get home they’ll go do it. And maybe a piece of that motivation will be about knowing who we were.

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The Clash of Civilizations, and Other Stories We Tell Ourselves

Douglas Faneuil — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:06:30 +0000

We’re all born late. We’re born into history that is well under way. We’re born into cultures, nations and languages that we didn’t choose. On top of that, we’re born with certain brain chemicals and genetic predispositions that we can’t control. We’re thrust into social conditions that we detest. Often, we react in ways we regret even while we’re doing them…

Among all the things we don’t control, we do have some control over our stories. We do have a conscious say in selecting the narrative we will use to make sense of the world. Individual responsibility is contained in the act of selecting and constantly revising the master narrative we tell about ourselves.

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[Wow – a nice follow-up to yesterday's post. I'm not a fan of Brooks generally, but I love his opener here. In my mind, this is what therapy is all about: re-shaping the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, in an attempt to change our outlook. -Ed.]