Page 682 - Total War on PTSD Final

One simple solution, that is rarely discussed by stakeholders in the various conversations about suicide prevention, stems from the old adage that when life becomes difficult, simply slow down, pause, and take a breath. According to Rieman, this is particularly helpful for Veterans who struggle with the stress of transition, as well as combat. “There is a saying that time heals all, and I truly believe that,” Rieman states, reflecting back on his experience, “there are lots of different programs in place [to assist Veterans in transition], but I wasn’t ready to take them seriously.” He continued, “If we want to improve overall health and well-being, we need to slow down the transition process and allow Veterans the time they need to process all of the changes they are going through.”
Rieman’s sentiment about the power of pause is also echoed by Dr. Chrisanne Gordon, a physician who specializes in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and founder of the Resurrecting Lives Foundation, a non-profit that specifically focuses on assisting transitioning Veterans with TBI. “We are all part of the race that is modern existence. We text, we Instagram, we communicate in short bursts of conversation to save time – and we believe in instant gratification,” states Gordon. And, she continued, “In our military, a second can literally be the determination of life or death, and decisions must be made in fractions of a second.” Rieman reiterated, “The things that keep you alive in war kill you as a civilian. You’re told that you’re invincible and you can defeat any enemy.” Thus, for many Veterans, de-conditioning them from this way of thinking is a process that takes time, particularly when they are working on defeating the enemy within.
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