Healing Combat Trauma

Rob Honzell's First Person Account, as a Vietnam Vet, of Combat PTSD

An update on an earlier blog post, from February of this year.  Rob Honzell, Sr., M.S.'s book, First Person: Combat PTSD, is now available at Amazon.com.  It's Honzell's account, in his own words, of what his Vietnam experience was like, and how they've affected the ensuing years since.  Not sure how much of it relates specifically to PTSD, despite the title -- I've just started leafing through it -- but to the extent that it's written by a Vietnam veteran who's been coming to terms with what he experienced ever since, it's worth knowing it's out there, and maybe seeing if your local library will buy a copy, to keep the Vietnam experience alive so we can keep learning from it.

It's also fair to say, not many people are able to write about their own experiences with PTSD - it's just too devastating.  We mentioned the other day a book that's just come out by an Army Ranger, Nate Self, about his Two Wars: with insurgents and with his own PTSD -- from the current OIF/OEF conflict.  With hundreds of books about the wars in our collective lifetimes, the just aren't many that address this topic directly, by people who've experienced PTSD.  Let's hope these are the start of many more contributions to the first person narrative literature on the subject.

One Great Book: "Home to War - A History of the Vietnam Veterans Movement," by Gerald Nicosia

"The Past Does Not Equal the Future" -- queue Tony Robbins -- well, unless we refuse to learn the copious lessons of the past, in which case it very well might -- or it might make the past look positively enlightened, by comparison.  Another take on the same thing, by the perennial, inveterate quotemeister himself, Ben Franklin: "Experience keeps a dear [expensive] school, but fools will learn in no other."  I'm reading the greatest book right now, recommended by another journalist who's interested in veterans issues -- "Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans Movement," by Gerald Nicosia, linked here.  It's 2 lbs., 10 oz., 689 pages, and roughly 136 cubic inches of nowhere-else-to-be-found material on the actual history of what created the Vietnam veterans' movement, which informs the veterans' rights movement of today, including the efforts to destigmatize PTSD, figure out what it was, re-include it in the DSM manual for psychiatrists (where it had been removed), etc.  Just fascinating.  All the players are there -- dozens of politically important types, including John Kerry, Ron Kovic (if you've seen "Born on the Fourth of July," you know who he is) as well as therapeutically important ones -- Shad Meshad, Ray Scurfield, Arthur Blank, M.D., Sarah Haley, etc. 

As a late-model Child of the Sixties, I had completely forgotten how much sheer effort -- blood, sweat and tears -- it took to get certain things passed that we now take for granted: better care at the VA, better provisions in the GI Bill, etc.  I had totally forgotten about the armed protests, the hunger strikes and sit-ins at the VA, etc.  It made me wonder whether leaders of the current veteran rights movements actually KNOW this history, and know how far their predecessors had to go, to secure the rights veterans rely on today -- which still need to keep pace with the times, and haven't.  The book is just plain fascinating, and b/c it's relatively neutrally written (as opposed to written with partisanship), with a steadfast focus on the facts and the key participants -- and because it's based on 600 or so interviews with the actual players, it's both extremely well done (a PBS series in book form, but with more depth!) and should keep my interest for quite a while.  So fascinating to know, or begin to hazily recall, the all-important "backstory" of where we are today.  And the insights on the genesis of understanding PTSD are well worth revisiting, all on their own.  Great book - wish I'd known about it before. As more and more veterans send me (unsolicited, I might add) their life stories, or their experiences with PTSD, I have to say -- this book really puts an awful lot together, behind the scenes, as to why they suffered in silence for so long.  Wonderful effort, and a pleasure to read.

Too bad tomorrow is already "Father's Day," but if you're lacking a gift for a veteran dad, Vietnam era or later, and can find this in stock at a local bookstore, it's a superlative collection of everything that went before, and helps us to understand the issues of the present, through the highly informing prism of the past.

Army Ranger Writes Book about Fighting Two Wars - with Insurgents, and with PTSD

There's a new book out called Two Wars: One Hero's Fight on Two Fronts - Abroad and Within, by Army Ranger Nate Self (great name, on both counts).  It's already #3 on Amazon in books about PTSD - the rest are more typically clinically oriented texts about coping with combat trauma and PTSD, such as you'll see in the left hand column on this blog.  This one is written by a highly-decorated Army ranger (Purple Heart, Silver Star) and West Point grad about the two battles he's fought: one in Afghanistan and Iraq, with insurgents; the other on the home front, with PTSD.  I just learned about it today so haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but be forewarned - it appears to have a spiritual/religious angle to it, in terms of his recovery, and it's published by Tyndale House, which is typically known as a religious book and Bible publisher.  "Not that there's anything specifically wrong with that" - unless of course you'd rather know that in advance, which I certainly would.  Still, major kudos to Nate Self for a) recovering enough to tell his tale; and b) telling it in real time, when it can still help a lot of people, especially those who view life most through the prism of religion-based spirituality.  My guess is it must be pretty good to have already vaulted to #3 in its category on Amazon, although I'm sure the video helps, because that's a very wise marketing move indeed.  To the best of my knowledge, this is the first and only book written by an OIF/OEF veteran about his or her battle with PTSD, and subsequent -- what I'm assuming is -- recovery.  It will be great to take a look at this; and I'm hoping it helps a lot of people.

"Two Wars" by Army Ranger, Nate Self (book Trailer)

Know Your Benefits: Get the VA Handbook

The Department of Veterans Affairs has published its annual resource handbook, called Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents.  It details the benefits programs available for eligible veterans and their families.  The handbook is a bestseller for the Government Printing Office, which makes hardbound copies of the book available for a fee ($5), or you can download the 153-page book in its entirety as a PDF on the Web (you must have Adobe Acrobat installed, but that's free.)  Click here for the downloadable PDF copy on the Web.

(If you need to order a hardbound copy of the book, you can do that by contacting the Government Printing Office at the following address: Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 979050, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000 (stock #051-000-00233-4).  You can also order the book online by clicking this link.  The Government Printing Office accepts credit cards at their toll-free number, (866) 512-1800.  The cost is $5 a book or $67 for 25 copies.  The stock is #051-000-00233-4.)  (Obviously, the downloadable version of the book is free on the Web.)

The good news is, most veterans do qualify for some VA benefits.  As we noted recently in a previous blog entry linked here, often veterans are slow to realize they qualify, for a number of reasons, and this slows down the process of getting them the benefits they have actually earned.  Don't be one of those vets -- order the book today, or download a copy, and keep it on file for the future, if not for today.

A Good Librarian is a Wonderful Resource

Lori Sekela, collection management librarian at the U.S. Army War College, who we've blogged about earlier, just produced a second, updated edition of her previous work, "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Military: A Selected Bibliography."  She reports that it was just released this week by the U.S. Army War College Library and is available for downloading online at http://www.carlisle.army.mil/library/bibs/PTSD08.pdf. 

The Table of Contents reveals the breakdown of her selected bibliography.  The big categories are "General Resources," "PTSD Related to Age, Gender or Ethnicity" (a live topic, in my opinion), and another great subset, "PTSD and Disability Claims."  The publications and resources cited all look to be officially-sanctioned, so they're on the conservative side, but for anyone who's doing research on the subject and wants to know where to look, this is a tremendous place to start.  Thank you, Lori!  A link to our earlier post about her work is here. 

Editor's Note: the U.S. Army War College is located in Carlisle, PA.

Loving Someone with PTSD - How It Affects You

The VA has an excellent "Fact Sheet" devoted to the special problems and opportunities of PTSD in a relationship.  It's well worth reading.  Click here for the link.  The fact sheet is entitled, "Partners of Veterans with PTSD: Caregiver Burden and Related Problems," but the "related problems" are so many more than alluded to in that simple and generic title.  In the "meat" of the fact sheet quite a few topics are covered, including: marital adjustment and divorce rates; interpersonal violence and domestic violence; mental health of partners (because PTSD can have a negative effect on others, as well); and caregiver burden.  If you or a loved one suffer from combat trauma, please take the time to read and review this short but useful handout.

Why is this topic so important?  As the fact sheet says, "Research that has examined the effect of PTSD on intimate relationships reveals severe and pervasive negative effects on marital adjustment, general family functioning, and the mental health of partners. These negative effects result in such problems as compromised parenting, family violence, divorce, sexual problems, aggression, and caregiver burden."  That's a whole lot of important topics, with significant impacts on the individual sufferers, and their friends and families.

Aphrodite Matsakis, Ph.D., and Patience Mason have both written powerfully about the spouse and family member's experience of a veteran with PTSD.  Matsakis' most recent book is Back from the Front: Combat Trauma, Love and the Family.  It's somewhat of a restatement of her earlier classic, brought up to the present, called Vietnam Wives: Facing the Challenges of Life with Veterans Suffering Post-Traumatic Stress.  Patience Mason, who's devoted the last umpteen years to writing words of wise counsel to others about living with a PTSD sufferer, authored the classic, Recovering from the War: A Guide for all Veterans, Family Members, Friends and Therapists.  As Charles Figley, Ph.D., writes about the topic, these women both know "about living with someone with a disability (PTSD) that, like a disease, destroys people and their relationships with others."

Vietnam Veteran Writes His First Person Account of Combat-Related PTSD

John Powers, tireless veterans advocate, recently told me about a book he's been reading, that's now available on Amazon.  The book is "First Person: Combat PTSD," and it's by Rob Honzell, Sr, M.S.  

According to the author, it's a "first person account of my life's journey, before, during and after serving in a Marine Recon Combat unit in Vietnam."  He adds that the book should be of interest to PSTD sufferers, families of PTSD sufferers, professionals treating PTSD patients and clients, and the general public as a whole."  Just to let you know it's out there, and it sounds very relevant.  Click here for the link to the book on Amazon.

Military Psychologist Faces Own Combat Trauma

The military publication, the Voice of America, has an article today called, "Combat Psychologist Treats Trauma, and Deals with Her Own," about Heidi Squier Kraft, who served as a Navy psychologist at the combat hospital in Al-Asad, Iraq, and has recently published a book about her experiences called, Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital.  Here's what the basic information about the book is:

Book Description
When Lieutenant Commander Heidi Kraft's twin son and daughter were fifteen months old, she was deployed to Iraq.A clinical psychologist in the US Navy, Kraft's job was to uncover the wounds of war that a surgeon would never see.She put away thoughts of her children back home, acclimated to the sound of incoming rockets, and learned how to listen to the most traumatic stories a war zone has to offer.One of the toughest lessons of her deployment was perfectly articulated by the TV show M*A*S*H: "There are two rules of war. Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one." Some Marines, Kraft realized, and even some of their doctors, would be damaged by war in ways she could not repair. And sometimes, people were repaired in ways she never expected. RULE NUMBER TWO is a powerful firsthand account of providing comfort admidst the chaos of war, and of what it takes to endure.

About the Author
Heidi Squier Kraft spent nine years as a psychologist for the US Navy before leaving active duty in March 2005. She lives in San Diego with her husband and children.

Click here for a link to the article in the Voice of America.  The article is a little surfacey, but still worth reading, about the special considerations of a trauma care provider who's also exposed to the same trauma in combat.  If you want to read more about women troop's experiences in the Iraq war, try also Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq, by Kirsten Holmstedt.  And if you want to read a book about a combat doctor's time in Iraq, read the aptly-titled, On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story, by Cdr. Richard Jadick, or A Doctor Looks at War: My Year in Iraq, by Michael C. Hodges.  Those books aren't necessarily going to focus much on combat trauma, but at least they're tangentially on the topic.  And if you just plain miss M*A*S*H, there are a couple of cool items on YouTube: a tribute to the show, with a great choral version of the theme song, Suicide is Painless, playing in the background; and a straight-up acoustic guitar version of the song which is also wonderful, below: 

"Listening is an Act of Love" -- Book & Project

Just in time for the holidays -- when families and friends traditionally gather to spend gobs of potentially boring OR bonding (and sometimes, both!) times with one another -- here's an idea whose time has definitely come.  Listening is an Act of Love is a new book by Dave Isay, as part of the national StoryCorps Project, which encouraged average citizens to tell their stories to interested others, who recorded them and assembled them for future listeners, in no less than the Library of Congress, so they'll be available to all Americans.  Here's what some impressive people had to say about the project:

"Dave Isay's vision of collecting the everyday stories of Americans is so simple and yet so powerful. Listening Is an Act of Love will make you laugh, cry and think. These stories come from the souls of individual Americans. Collectively, they are who we are as a people. You cannot read this book without feeling proud of your country." -- Former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley

"StoryCorps asks Americans to reflect upon their experiences, their times of travail, their achievements. In so doing, these individuals create an encompassing national narration: a people's hopes, fears and aspirations, all rendered poignantly to attentive listeners whose respect has enabled, finally, a presentation of a people's mind, heart, soul." -- Dr. Robert Coles, James Agee Professor of Social Ethics, Harvard University

"This book is absolutely remarkable. Listening is an Act of Love is history in the richest sense of the word, the kind that makes people feel like they count. It's a celebration of the lives of the uncelebrated. In our world today people feel helpless, but once they speak of their lives they become alive! This is what our country is all about. Never has a book been more timely or necessary."  -- Studs Terkel, prolific writer and master oral historian.

Here are three ways to get involved: 1) buy copies of the book, for yourself and to give as holiday gifts this season.  2) interview some people you know who might have stories to tell -- get them talking about the stories only they can tell, and record them for posterity, too, as part of this project.  Details on how to do that at the StoryCorps Project website, linked here.  (Don't force anyone to talk about anything they don't want to, but be a receptive, inquisitive audience for those who do.)  3) go to a book signing of the author, whose book tour is about halfway complete at this point.  Details on the book tour linked here.

Some background information about StoryCorps:  StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.  By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity. Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is archived for generations to come at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to our award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. StoryCorps is the largest oral history project of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans.

Editor's Note: The book title itself is interesting.  Sounds a little bit like the Paul Tillich quote we wrote about earlier, here, that the "first duty of love is to listen."

Life Preservers for Navigating an Ocean of Grief

Particularly relevant to our readers, now that the holiday season is upon us, it's time to talk about grief, and its relationship to the survivor of combat trauma; the veteran, and his or her family.  For the emotion grief is also part of combat trauma: both the direct grief of the veterans themselves, that never leaves, of the horrors of war, of seeing buddies die, of doing things, and seeing things, that sometimes bring them shame and agony -- and the direct or indirect grief of the family members, when trauma or PTSD drives a veteran to hopelessness, homelessness, or suicide.  There's also the indirect combat trauma-based grief: grief that comes when a veteran dies.  Grief is a normal, healthy, healing process, that, like combat trauma, can be a "normal reaction" to an abnormal situation occurring. 

What is grief?  Heavy-hearted woe, suffering, and pain, when recollecting a previous event or loved one who is no longer here.  According to Roget's Thesaurus, "grief" is "Mental anguish or pain caused by loss or despair: heartache, heartbreak, sorrow.  Grief is, according to the dictionary, "deep mental anguish, such as that arising from bereavement.  See "regret" (yikes.)  The word itself comes from a root word meaning to harm (aggrieve.)  Poets have handled it deftly over the years.  Think of Emily Dickinson's lines on grief:

I MEASURE every grief I meet      

  With analytic eyes;      

I wonder if it weighs like mine,    

  Or has an easier size.   

 

I wonder if they bore it long,        

  Or did it just begin?    

I could not tell the date of mine,   

  It feels so old a pain.   

 

I wonder if it hurts to live,    

  And if they have to try,        

And whether, could they choose between,   

  They would not rather die.

Fortunately, several books shed light on the experience of losing a combat veteran spouse -- these two are from deaths in the Vietnam war era, but the principles apply today as well.  The books are, Grief Denied: A Vietnam Widow's Story, by Pauline Laurent, and Sacred Shadow, Sacred Ground: A Vietnam War Widow's Journey through Unresolved Grief, by Glenda Carter.  Both are five stars on Amazon.com.  (See sidebar for books, or click on their hyperlinks, above.)  Laurent is one of the authors featured in Maxine Hong Kington's edited anthology, "Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace, discussed earlier in this blog; and she's featured in the Bill Moyers documentary on the book as well. 

There's also a very good psychological help guide on the Web, at HelpGuide.org, which describes the difficulty of grief and loss, and possible ways to handle them constructively.  The guide is called, "Coping with Grief and Loss: A Guide to Grieving and Bereavement."  It has many good parts, including how to take care of yourself when you're suffering, and the special issues relating to grieving a death by suicide.  Click here for that link.  There's also a related guide to helping or supporting someone else who is grieving: "helping your child, friend or parent cope with the death of a loved one."  Click here for that link.  They also have some very good material on combat trauma and PTSD.  Click here for that link.  There's also a very pleasant, British, low-key book called Free Yourself from Harmful Stress, that also is worth checking out.  I don't have my copy handy so I can't remember if it covers combat trauma or not -- it might not.  But it does cover all garden-variety psychology health issues, and is written in a very straightforward, pleasant and constructive manner.

[Editor's Note: Helpguide was created in 1999 by the Rotary Club of Santa Monica with active participation by Rotarians Robert and Jeanne Segal following the tragic suicide of their daughter Morgan. Since then, a dedicated team of talented people have collaborated to create a free, non-commercial resource for people in need.  Helpguide’s mission is to empower you and your loved ones to understand, prevent, and resolve health challenges.  Helpguide served over eight million visitors during the past 12 months and is growing by 20% per year. ]