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By Charlene Rubush, May 7, 2012 5:20 pm

I’ve come across a listing of the Top 25 PTSD Blogs according to Medical Schools of America. Many of these I was unaware of, and you might be too.

Some of these are:

PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within

http://ptsd.combat.blogspot.com/

Healing Combat Trauma

http://www.healingcombattrauma.com

Making the Shift: A Self-Empowered Healing Blog

http://healmyptsd.com/ptsd-blog

Family of a Vet Blog

http://blog.familyofavet.com/

Artconstellation

http://artconstellation.blogspot.com/

Wife Of A Wounded Marine

http://beingthewifeofawoundedmarine.blogspot.com/

Trauma Blog

http://seattletherapist.wordpress.com/

Path To Recovery

http://kerrisrecovery.blogspot.com/

For the full listing, go to:

http://www.medicalassistantschools.org/top_ptsd/

I know there are many other excellent PTSD blogs, but this is a good start for anyone looking for great PTSD info and encouragement. I have found that every blog offers a unique perspective. Take heart. There is something out there for everyone!

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By Charlene Rubush, April 18, 2012 12:53 pm

I believe it’s safe to say—all of us know an alcoholic. They may be a “hidden” alcoholic, or their affliction may be obvious. Doug Thorburn, an expert on alcoholism and addiction, has written an eye-opening book titled Alcoholism-Myths and Realities—Removing the Stigma of Society’s Most Destructive Disease.

I’ve mentioned here before that I am a huge fan of Thorburn’s work. I often revisit his books and gain new insights. In Chapter 1, he writes:

Alcoholism is the most misunderstood of all diseases. This is rather surprising, since 1 out of 10 people has this disease and we are all directly or indirectly affected. Yet the doctors and psychologists whom we trust to treat diseases and mental disorders are almost completely untrained in understanding and diagnosing the affliction.

Thorburn also notes that psychologists are schooled in the idea that childhood trauma and other negative environmental factors can cause alcoholism even though the evidence shows that such influences only shape its course.

Facts about alcoholism:

• Secondary diseases are usually diagnosed long before alcoholism is identified, even though the latter is the root cause and primary contributing factor to at least 300 other illnesses and other disorders.
• Emergency room medical personnel treat symptoms of addiction, including accidents, in an estimated 50 to 80% of admissions, yet rarely test for alcohol or other drugs in the system.
• Most people balk at calling someone an alcoholic even if some of their behaviors are bizarre or destructive.
• Epilepsy, diabetes, leprosy, tuberculosis and other diseases were attributed in past centuries to character defects such as a lack of morals or witchcraft until their true causes were indentified.
• Over one hundred years after the stigma of the last of these diseases was largely removed, those labeled as alcoholics continue to suffer disgrace.
• Almost all those who have addicted family members in rehab, are ashamed.

When you think about these things, it’s pretty evident that we, as a society, are really failing those who are addicted and are suffering from alcoholism. I believe the only way attitudes will change, is with a massive movement on education. I’ve found all of Thorburn’s books to be outstanding.

For more information, go to Doug Thorburn’s websites:

http://www.AlcoholismMythsandRealities.com

http://www.preventragedy.com

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By Charlene Rubush, April 9, 2012 2:00 pm

Nearly every day I visit one of my favorite websites, The Fix. Today I read an excellent article by Vicki Hogarth, who is a recovering alcoholic, freelance writer and former celebrity journalist.

The title of the piece is Relapsing on Mouthwash. The subtitle says a lot.

The meetings I went to were creepy enough for me to avoid the program altogether—and eventually relapse while gargling. Then I realized something had to change: me.

I won’t go into the whole article, but the gist of it was, that Vicki had gone to a 28-day rehab, and when she came out, she really wasn’t into AA meetings. She found the meetings depressing.

She tried going out with her friends from work who drank, and she stayed sober for awhile. But as months went by, she notes that the “novelty of my sobriety wore off.”

One morning before work, she was gargling mouthwash, and instead of spitting it out, she swallowed it. Well, this brought on a buzz and before you know it, she was doing it too often. Within two weeks of binging on mouthwash, she had to detox with medical support.

Fortunately, this episode led her back to AA, where she found an AA meeting of people young, like herself. She even met an acquaintance there, and she finally began to feel comfortable with AA and the program.

Reading this article reminded me of an experience I had while attending Open AA meetings. (I’m not an alcoholic. I was trying to understand a loved one’s behavior.) Much to my surprise one night, I met an old friend and co-worker there. Jane had hired me for my first hairdressing job and was probably the first alcoholic I had daily interaction with. (Although I didn’t realize she had a problem at the time.)

I even went out with her a few times, and noticed she really downed the drinks awfully fast. But since I’d never been around that kind of behavior at that time in my life, I wasn’t particularly alarmed. Jane wasn’t a loud drunk. She actually became strangely quiet. It never occurred to me then, that I was putting myself in danger by riding with her.

Sadly, Jane’s problem was so bad, that one evening she went out barhopping alone, and got so drunk that she hit and killed a woman while driving. I still remember Jane being out of work due to her own injuries. She had all of her teeth knocked out and many broken bones. I never did know if she had to serve any jail time.

It was strange to meet up with her again so many years later in AA. But now I look back and feel extremely grateful that I wasn’t with her that horrible night. I’m also hoping she is still working her program and will never get in a car and drive drunk again.

To read Vicki’s article, go to:

http://www.thefix.com/content/hating-aa-drove-me-drink-moutwash-10038?page=all

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By Charlene Rubush, April 2, 2012 1:40 pm

I just found another excellent website for military members and their families. Military Pathways is there to help those who may be struggling with PTSD and many other issues. The Department of Defense has teamed up with the nonprofit organization Screening for Mental Health to launch Military Pathways.

The program is available online, over the phone, and at special events held at installations worldwide. It provides free, anonymous mental health and alcohol self-assessments for family members and service personnel in all branches including the National Guard and Reserve.

The self-assessments are a series of questions that, when linked together, help create a picture of how an individual is feeling and whether they could benefit from talking to a health professional.

The primary goals of the program are to reduce stigma, raise awareness about mental health, and connect those in need to available resources. The self-assessments address depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, alcohol use and bipolar disorder. After an individual completes a self-assessment, s/he is provided with referral information including services provided through the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

When I found their site today, I was reading a true story of a high-functioning alcoholic and how she found recovery. Users of the site can tell their own stories and share them. I was very impressed by the site, and think it will be a very valuable resource for me to visit periodically and share information with my readers.

Check it out at:

http://www.militarymentalhealth.org

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By Charlene Rubush, March 25, 2012 5:54 pm

There is a ton of great information to be found on The PTSD Forum website. They have an article there about the ways we can tell we are healing our PTSD. Here’s an excerpt from an excellent article that provides the signs that you are healing:

What does having our trauma healed mean? How do we recognize when we have sufficiently healed from trauma?

This is the list of seven criteria for having resolved trauma. It was created by Claudia Black, Ph.D.

1. The physiological symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder have been brought within manageable limits.

2. The person is able to bear the feelings associated with the traumatic memories.

3. The person has authority over his/her memories. He/she can elect to remember the trauma and to put that memory aside.

4. The memory of the traumatic event/s is a coherent narrative, linked with feeling.

5. The person’s damaged self-esteem has been restored.

I think healing in ourselves often goes unnoticed. It’s nice to have these concrete signs to let us ponder the ways in whcih we may be healing without conscious thought.

I hope you’ll check out the PTSD Forum. You can become a member for free, and post your own thoughts and feelings, as well as connect with others who face the same challenges as yourself. You’ll also find people who are truly “healing their PTSD.” It’s an inspiring and helpful site.

To read the full article, go to:

http://www.ptsdforum.org/threads/criteria-for-healed-trauma.13869/

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By Charlene Rubush, March 7, 2012 5:15 pm

I just found another excellent PTSD booklet put out by the National Center for PTSD. It is 8 pages and covers:

What is PTSD?

Getting Help

Resources

The booklet contains real, inspiring stories by PTSD survivors and can help combat vets, rape victims, survivors of natural disasters, and any other traumatic event. You can download the booklet at:

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/understanding_ptsd/booklet.pdf

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By Charlene Rubush, March 2, 2012 3:32 pm

Lately, I’ve been re-reading Vietnam Wives- Facing the Challenges of Life with Veterans Suffering from Pos-Traumatic Stress. (Second Edition, revised, 1996). Aphrodite Matsakis, Ph.D. is like a touchstone for me when it comes to trying to make sense of my own PTSD experience.

For our veterans and their families of today, I’m sure it’s impossible to think of a time when there was no public discourse about PTSD, no internet, few books or literature to turn to when one was suffering in silence.

Back in 1987, when I reached out for help from the Veterans Outreach Center, they handed me a pamphlet which gave me information about combat-related PTSD, as it affected the veteran. There was no literature focused on a spouse’s reaction or the effects on the family of living in proximity to a veteran afflicted with PTSD.

But sometime later, I came across Vietnam Wives (First Edition, 1987) while browsing in a bookstore. It felt like a miracle; a life-preserver. Here was a book written for me and all the other Vietnam veteran wives. My reaction was sheer joy and I felt like shouting out “Hallelujah!” At last, someone had recognized my plight.

Matsakis writes (pg. 39)

“Denial is a central feature of PTSD. Like alcoholism, drug addiction, and compulsive overeating, PTSD is a condition that tells its victims that they don’t really have a problem.” ‘That’s what I told myself for years’, explains one vet. ‘I thought if I’d ignore it, it would go away.’

Matsakis also notes that some vets even pretended that the war “didn’t really happen.” This denial serves as a major defense against feeling the extremely uncomfortable feelings that often went along with the Vietnam experience—specifically, fear, guilt, and rage, as well as moral confusion.

Isn’t it amazing how the mind can play tricks on itself, in self-preservation? It took me years to come out of my own denial of how dysfunctional my life had become. And it’s been comforting to learn from an expert such as Dr. Matsakis, that denial is a normal part of having PTSD.

Yet denial helps us stay stuck in our own misery. We cannot make changes if we don’t acknowledge that there is a huge problem. It often takes a major crisis to shake us out of our denial. That’s what happened with me, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

It’s something to think about…as they say in Al-Anon, If nothing changes, nothing changes.

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By Charlene Rubush, February 13, 2012 2:42 pm

Every day I’m amazed when I find another source of support for our returning combat vets.

VetChange is a website for OIF and OEF veterans who are concerned about their drinking.  Here’s info from their site:

If you’re a returning veteran who is having problems related to drinking, you’re not alone. Many returning veterans have increased their drinking since returning from deployment and are wondering if it’s time to make some changes. If you’d like to cut down or stop drinking by using a self-management, confidential program on the web, we may have a solution for you.

The website notes that research studies over the past 30 years show that people can often reduce risky drinking on their own, and sometimes with help from written materials that describe some ways of doing this.

VetChange is a self-management program on the Web that can help you decide if you want to change your drinking (to cut down or stop) and assist you in making these changes of you’re ready to do so. It may also help you reduce combat-related stress which may be affecting your drinking. This research is designed to find out how well VetChange helps people meet these goals.

VetChange assures its users that participation and responses will be kept confidential. You only need to provide your email address. Another advantage of using the program, is that after you have completed surveys, you will be compensated with online gift cards.

Sounds like a win/win situation for all, and a good resource for those who need it. Check it out at:

http://www.vetchange.org/home

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By Charlene Rubush, February 8, 2012 10:06 pm

Dear readers:

Here’s another great resource for you:

The Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding its efforts to prevent suicide through several new initiatives that increase the availability of services for Veterans, Service Members and their families. Now, in addition to the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and Press 1) and online chat, Veterans and Service Members in crisis—and their friends and families—may text free of charge to 83-8255 to receive confidential, personal and immediate support. The text service is available, like the Veterans Crisis Line and online chat, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and connects a user with a specially trained VA professional.

Visit the National Resource Directory for more information about programs and organizations dedicated to preventing suicide.

http://www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov

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By Charlene Rubush, February 3, 2012 6:10 pm

After the Al-Anon meeting where I first heard the term dry drunk, I began to investigate what it meant. When I had first been led to start attending meetings, I actually believed that overindulgence in alcohol was an alcoholic’s major problem.

I was so uninformed, that I thought if a person quit overindulging, then all the attendant problems would magically fall away. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Mike, my former boyfriend of 9 months, hadn’t had a drink in over 5 years. Yet his behavior was unpredictable, extremely cold, and too often, angry.

Much of his anger was related to his time in Vietnam. He had shared with me that he’d gotten very good at killing. I think he bore a lot of shame over that. To make matters worse, his family were all drinkers. When he finally hit bottom and went to AA, he had to abstain from being around his family. It was all so very sad.

Yet I wasn’t willing to subject myself to an angry person again (combat vet or not)  for the long haul. I had enough of my own baggage to deal with at the time.

Here are some thoughts from an article on Dry Drunk Syndrome by Buddy T.  from the About.com website:

“Unfortunately when many former drinkers go through the grieving process over the loss of their old friend, the bottle, some never get past the anger stage … whether they realized it or not, they began the stages of grieving—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—the same stages people go through when they have a great loss in their lives or have been told they have a terminal illness.”

Learning about the many aspects of alcoholism has opened my eyes to the harsh realities someone with an addictive personality, or predisposition to becoming alcoholic, must face.

As I heard many times in meetings, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”I’m so grateful that I do not have the problem myself. I have much empathy for those who do.

To learn more about the Dry Drunk Syndrome, read the complete article at:

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/info/a/aa081397.htm