The Good Life – January-February 2016
Featuring UFC Fighter, Timothy Johnson. 13-time X Games Medalist, Tucker Hibbert, Local Heroes - Fargo Vet Center and more in Fargo Moorhead’s only men’s magazine.
Featuring UFC Fighter, Timothy Johnson. 13-time X Games Medalist, Tucker Hibbert, Local Heroes - Fargo Vet Center and more in Fargo Moorhead’s only men’s magazine.
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Others are depending on you to not give up. <strong>The</strong>se may<br />
be dark seasons in your life, but there is light at the end<br />
of this darkness.<br />
Getting past the trauma<br />
A few methods used in the past to help alleviate<br />
symptoms are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye<br />
movement desensitization (EMD), prolonged exposure<br />
(PE) therapy, and cognitive processing therapy (CPT). For<br />
many people, those therapies can alleviate symptoms.<br />
Talk to a therapist to have your symptoms assessed. Be<br />
open to receiving help, support and love from others.<br />
You may find it pointless to talk about your experiences<br />
with others as you live through this living nightmare, but<br />
that is the very thing you need to do.<br />
Find someone who has gone through experiences similar<br />
to your own and therapists specialized in this area.<br />
Many military couples are finding help through<br />
Samaritan’s Purse at their “Operation Heal Our Patriots”<br />
conferences. Since 2012, the weeklong marriage retreats<br />
have been provided for wounded military personnel and<br />
their husbands and wives. <strong>The</strong>y also provide ongoing<br />
ministry through their aftercare program.<br />
Along with receiving help from others, ask God to give<br />
you a new hope and to relinquish your fears. Find a new<br />
hobby or pick up an old one that you can learn to enjoy.<br />
Find companionship in a pet. Exercise daily, and eat<br />
whole, unprocessed foods. All those practices can help<br />
your body and mind heal faster.<br />
This is obviously too serious and broad of a topic to<br />
cover in a short article, so please, check out these other<br />
online resources to learn more about PTSD and how you<br />
can receive help and spread awareness. ■<br />
Online resources<br />
If you're a veteran and would like more information,<br />
please visit: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/<br />
Samaritan’s Purse: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/<br />
article/military-couples-find-healing-in-alaska/<br />
Contact the Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255,<br />
press 1 (text 838255)<br />
Confidential Veterans Chat: Talk with a therapist by<br />
visiting www.veteranscrisisline.net<br />
<strong>The</strong> advice in this article was approved by a professional<br />
mental health practitioner.<br />
11
Change language