Comments on: Contact

By: Risa Ruse

Risa Ruse — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:32:55 +0000

PTSD response from me!
Dear Dr. Z:
What a heartfelt reply you sent me.
On all facets I surely agree.

Thanks for the tip from the Vet Art Project.
Please excuse any words of character that cause you to object.

What we both can share also needs to be expressed.
Giving thanks for little things keeps us from being depressed!

Yours inspired in rhyme from the Divine,

Risa

By: Dr. Z

Dr. Z — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:43:40 +0000

Hello Risa, I too find that art (in its many manifestations) can be healing. Your motif of “Rhyme with the Divine” helps people see that our words, while spoken in the mundane, also can illuminate the Divinity that we can explore and heal with in our on-going exploration.

As a traditional Roman Catholic I experience the Rhyme/Divine in our scriptures, for example, in the Old Testament the Psalms, Proverbs, and Canticles. In the New Testament Song and Rhyme are also parts of the presentation of the Divine, e.g., the first 19 verses of John’s Gospel shares a poem about the Word. Paul the Apostle also uses meter in parts of his work and we even find poetry in the Book of Revelation. Indeed, the Liturgy and the Office of Prayer are also replete with life-giving poetry.

I think the barrier you have encountered with some in the Medical Industry has a lot to do with financing (insurance does not pay for what often is considered “alternative healing”) and the personal competiveness among many physicians. If I used all of the professional initials that go with my training/credentials I think there are over ten letters. That said, quite a few people with alphabet soups after their names lack compassion, while others have it. I am doubtful that the medical industry and the insurance companies will ever be willing to pay or acknowledge those means of healing which do not provide them with profit and/or adulation. While I have met some fine individual medical doctors they tend to be the exceptions and not the norms. The same is true of many of my peers who have the PhD. Yet, compassion does not require an academic degree.

In your shoes I would expect continued barriers. But, if you are meeting with PTSD and trauma survivors and they benefit from your work, then you have already won, so to speak. It has been pointed out to me that I could have made more money as a lawyer than a theologian and PTSD guy, but I think in the big picture I do more good by doing what I do now. If your poetry promotes life, then stick to that.

You may be interested in searching the internet for the Vet Art Project. Poetry is one of the healing venues they explore. Thank you for taking the time to visit this site.
Semper Pax, Dr. Z

By: Risa Ruse

Risa Ruse — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:34:34 +0000

Dear Dr. Z:
The hardest part of sharing this valuable Self-Help Alternative Healing is to get through to health care providers. They seem to have their own mind-set and are set on not listening to anyone that does not have a few letters after their names in their degrees. Any thoughts on removing this barrier to make a very worth while “Art” into a “healing” resource?
Sincerely,
Risa

By: Risa Ruse

Risa Ruse — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:31:36 +0000

Dear Dr. Z:
I find that after having the time I needed to heal through unemployment that I was able to creatively connect to my lost feelings through the power of the Divine in rhyme! My own poetry book and published articles I use as the materials in facilitating small group PTSD Healing Poetry Workshops. I would love to share more with those interested. So far I do them informally at a Church soup kitchen and also a recovery house for men with PTSD issues.
Here’s to healing in rhyme from the Divine,
Risa

By: Dr. Z

Dr. Z — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:14:41 +0000

This is in response to Pier. I have not shown his comment as it is very personal and perhaps not suitable to be widely read. Suffice that he mentions several challenges which his PTSD gives him and his journey to thrive in spite of it.

Hello, Your situation is certainly a journey to Golgotha. On the medical side, as you know, I am not qualified to speak to the medications and treatments of your PTSD. I can say it is good that you are trying to work with the medical community as well as exploring spiritual options. In a case as challenging as yours it is necessary to keep seeking the medical solutions – at least to help make the symptoms bearable. You mentioned your wife helps you. That is extremely valuable. Having a spouse who can help with things like getting dressed, bathed, etc., is very helpful… as much as having someone who understands your PTAD and loves you. You seem to have identified your challenges and goals, especially in the role of parent. Do what you can and try to do it well. Know that there are things you cannot do and you will have to make your peace with that. That is very difficult. In my own life I have had to make my peace with disability. It is frustrating, but I know God does not expect more of me than I am able to do. Continue to see your medical advisors and continue to keep your relationships as alive as they can be. If you cannot voice your love for your children, then write it down and give iut to them. Semper Pax, Dr. Z

By: Dr. Z

Dr. Z — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:02:02 +0000

You are certainly right about the value of having someone else there to help. One of the points about PTSD Spirituality is that no matter how isolated we may feel due to our PTSD, that we are never actually alone. God is on our side. As a Christian I often feel that I can have Jesus “Walk Point” for me so I don’t have to do it myself yet one more time. We can “break trail” with other people and other resources as well. I am familiar with the first book you mentioned and have it in my own collection as well. I don’t know the second one. Depending on the human resources a person has available to them, and with PTSD we often have few of those, a good book (and the Good Book) can help us in our journey. Semper Pax, Dr. Z

By: Leigh

Leigh — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:08:54 +0000

Hi Dr Z.

Solomon asked for wisdom, I am trying to do the same because with wisdom comes knowledge and from knowledge, understanding. Two excellent resources I have come across in recent times are ‘The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook: A guide to Healing, Recovery and Growth’ by Glenn R. Shiraldi and ‘Understanding Trauma: How to Overcome Post Traumatic Stress’ 1st Edition by Roger Baker. Leaning on my own understanding is tiring and can resuilt in ‘ping pong’ thinking. Renewing our minds through challenging tired attitudes about our experiences is very hard but is exciting with God behind us.

God bless, Leigh

By: Dr. Z

Dr. Z — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:59:34 +0000

I am glad that the reply is of some use. Your experience with the young offender and the sustained threat of death reminds me of how some people in the service get traumatised. They undergo a sustained threat but are not in combat. People think they never actually got shot so they can’t have PTSD. Yet the disruption of their world safety and the loss of a sense of self due to threat occur. Sounds lkike some of the damage you went through.

You may need to replace your doctor and I know that is easier said than done. One of my physical injuries is actually the result of an angry doctor who took it out on me – and you can’t sue an army doctor for malpractive. Doctors, like the rest of us, are huimans and there are good ones and some jerks as well. You may need to seek out a doctor who is willing to listen with a fresh view – and not just reinforce his earlier finding (as he collects a fresh fee).

You mentioned “not asking for much,” just six months wages. While the money is allways important as we do have to eat and pay bills, what is perhaps really at stake is the formal recognition of what you went through and what it has done to you. In my own life with PTSD it has been important to me that my PTSD be recognized, admitted to. If the PTSD is offically recognised then we know and out souls know we are not slackers, but are actually victims. Just as it is tough for PTSD sufferers to recognise and admit they have PTSD, socciety also has to take its responsibility and recognise it as well. Semper Pax, Dr. Z

By: Leigh

Leigh — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 05:07:23 +0000

Thank you so much for your reply, it’s much appreciated and means alot. Neverunder estimate your writing and the positive effect it has on peoples lives. I held a job last year that required me to work with some troubled young men. Assaults were common and I was a victim of a sustained threat to my safety while on duty.

I took six months off work, I did some voluntary work for about 10-15 hours a week to keep up social contact. I wanted to go through a work cover claim but the bureaucracy is very exhausting and I didn’t go through with it becuase I was tired all the time. In recent times with improved energy I have decided to enlist the other legal help to obtain six months worth of lost wages due to stress. I am now back at work with a different employer. Legal advice tells me I have a good chance due other witnesses to the attack and therefore adequate documantation.

The problem is my doctor. As I have a pre existing case of depression, which he diagnosed from my teens, he has submitted a report to the work cover compensation people that this pre existing condition has not changed post incident. I am annoyed and frustrated as I feel I am not being validated through my experience. To spare details a young man hid a knife in his sock and threatened to stab me repeatedly. I looked myself in the office for a few hours.

I am not asking for much. Six months wages while I was on disability benefits for ptsd. I am back working. I fear the process of gaining any restitution and acknowledgment will make me exhausted and more cynical. I feel that my doctor is not working with me.

By: Dr. Z

Dr. Z — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:40:53 +0000

Rather, it is I who should apologize to you. Readers of the PTSD Spirituality website are not the folks who have vexed me about writing. My complaint about the individual who complained so vocally about my lack of writing volume did it in such a way as to put my university teaching position at risk. I know that no person who reads these web essays and who finds them useful would like to see me out of my job. I apologize for being less than clear about that.
I am grateful, however, that some of the essays are useful to you. We can indeed discover grace in our suffering. We don’t seek this suffering and we certainly don’t desire it. But given that we each have this amount of pain, suffering, and confusion in our lives, then we can be blessed to seek compassion. This is the compassion we hope to receive from others and we hope to extend to others as well. We know we will not always receive it and that is certainly frustrating. Yet, we then discover if we can extend compassion to those who lack it themselves. If we can, then perhaps they will find they need compassion and need to extend it themselves to others. One of the lessons I have learned in the last week, after I wrote the post, is I must be careful to not make myself vulnerable to that particular priest such that he can endanger my employment – and at the same time I need to pray for his own healing all the more.
Our pain is often deep-rooted after years of neglect and perhaps even denial. Yet, we can always choose a path to eschew the temptation to bitterness and take the risk to endeavor on the path of love for the sake of love. And, as 1 John tells us, God is Love.
I am grateful for your taking the time to read the website and encouraging me to keep writing. It is both physically and spiritually painful to write for this site, yet I remain convinced that it does some good in the world beyond my own need to write. We all need reminding that we have value. Semper Pax, Dr. Z