In this episode of the PTSD Bytes podcast, Dr. Pearl McGee-Vincent and Dr. Jessica Hamblen discuss AboutFace, a website where Veterans talk about their experiences with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
https://www.spreaker.com/user/11014928/forreview-ncptsd-episode22-hamblen-11152
AboutFace is a website that features over 1,000 videos of Veterans talking about their experiences with PTSD and treatment. There are videos of their family members talking about what it’s like to live with someone with PTSD. There are also videos of clinicians talking about what you can expect in PTSD treatment.
Veterans of AboutFace video introduction: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEHCdELlNs4
How can AboutFace help?
Hearing other Veterans talk about their PTSD may help you feel less alone and can help you recognize if you’re having PTSD symptoms, too. Since many Veterans with PTSD avoid talking about it, the videos on this website can help you learn about the different ways PTSD can look.
You can also learn how these Veterans overcame feelings of shame or fear to get treatment, and how treatment helped them. Each video is designed to feel like you’re having an intimate conversation with a friend who has been there.
Finding your way around the site
You can pick an interview question that you want to hear the answers to, or you can browse longer videos that go through the arc of a Veteran’s life, from what their PTSD was like to how treatment helped them. The newly designed site is scheduled to launch soon, and it will offer some guided paths through videos. These guided experiences will focus on important messages, such as PTSD treatment works and that there is hope.
Learn about PTSD treatment on AboutFace
On the website, Veterans who survived different types of traumas share their stories of how important it was to seek help. From Steve Connor’s emotional release when he first told his therapist about his military sexual trauma to Sherie Warner’s guilt for surviving when others did not to Yvonne Grissett’s confusion before she was diagnosed. These stories demonstrate the power of seeking help.
The website also has descriptions of three types of talk therapy that have been shown to work best for PTSD. Each treatment is explained by a Veteran who has gone through it. For example, Reedy Hopkins shares his experience of looking at his trauma from different angles. We also hear how treatment can turn your life around more generally, such as how Eddie Hoffman explains how his treatment made him happier and more confident.
Who is AboutFace for?
Veterans and family members are encouraged to explore AboutFace and its videos. Health care providers can also share videos with Veterans to encourage them to give PTSD treatment a try. Non-Veteran trauma survivors can also learn about PTSD and treatment on AboutFace.
Seeking treatment can be the first step to a healthier and more meaningful life. You’re not alone and help is out there. As Veteran Jerry Reed says, “So, go get it.”
Additional links
- AboutFace website: ptsd.va.gov/AboutFace
- VA PTSD treatment locator: https://www.va.gov/directory/guide/ptsd.asp
- More PTSD Bytes episodes
If you are a Veteran who is experiencing a crisis or supporting a loved one who is, dial 988, then press 1 for immediate assistance, or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/chat.
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I just needed help with my depression and anxiety make me feel good that I’m not alone I hate this feeling I can’t shake even the medication for the most part don’t help!!’
I am a Army veteran. I was 24 and my spouse, a veteran, who was 22 at the time suffered a loss of child due to a miscarriage. Here I am 38 years later still emotionally distressed about it with bouts of depression. PTSD was not a big issue with the military back in the 80’s so I never sought help with mental health. The climate of that time was not positive on mental health. You were frowned on as not being fit for military. Even with this issue I still performed as a good Soldier in their eyes. Always masking my anger and pain of the loss of my first and only conceived child with alcohol and eventually drug abuse. Is there help for me?
78 years old and have blocked out PTSD for many years came back with two arms and legs and was told I have survivor’s guilt a long time ago.
VA’s understanding of vet’s & PSTD is useless.
I was a LRRP in Vietnam during 66-67 and was medically retired in 1985. I have been in therapy for what feels like, forever, and feel as lost as the day I pulled my last mission after killing seven enemy combatants. The VA has demonstrated that they still don’t have an understanding of what PTSD feels like. I reached out, again, to the VA a few months ago and the therapist said “what do you want from me and why did you wait so long?” and “The best I can offer you, is let you sit in a room and write down what you think and feel, besides, I’m going to retire in a couple of months” I am just a person who is trying to understand why after all these years I still feel so angry and totally empty. (The woods are dark and deep and I have miles to go, before I sleep, miles to go, before I sleep).
At 78+ years old it was only about 2 years ago that I was diagnosed with chronic and severe PTSD. I didn’t even know I was qualified for VA heath care until 2019.
So I have spent the majority of my life untreated and messed up in many ways. But I have taken several PTSD courses and at least I understand why my life has been a mess. It will be a never ending thing for me at my age, but it has helped a bit to at least know what was wrong all these years. If you suspect you have PTSD don’t wait, get diagnosed and treatment now. Hopefully my suffering will help someoen else.
Many thanks to those who shared and provided such valuable information in this regard. Many thanks to those who have supported and made this site possible for Veterans and their families. There can be no greater tool for us to begin! Let us begin to try.
Where is about face–so I can leave what happened to me.
Was in a couple of group 7-8 for PTSD and alcohol. Put Covid fever hit the AND at 73 I’m still want them get back off internet. Not a video man.
Is there different degrees of ptsd
Oh Yeah. I have it. Hard part is admitting your got “issues”. Meds are working on me and one must stay on top of meds. Over time they might need to tweaked. Gods speed.