The following is an opinion post from Ken Falke and does not represent the views or an endorsement from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Falke is a 21-year Veteran of the U.S. Navy Special Operations Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) community and retired master chief petty officer. He founded the Boulder Crest Foundation and is co-author of the book, “Struggle Well,” both of which focus on thriving in the aftermath of trauma.
Today, approximately 140 Americans will take their own lives. About 20 of them are military Veterans. More first responders will die by suicide this year than will in the line of duty, and teenagers are taking their own lives in record numbers.
Our nation’s mental health system is broken and, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, our mental health system is in need of disruption and innovation.
The science of posttraumatic growth has been around for nearly 40 years, and the applied practice and teachings of posttraumatic growth has made strides in the last 10 years. We have seen what right could look like: a system without labels, without drugs and without diminishment.
Posttraumatic growth describes the ways in which the struggle that follows traumatic events can often serve as a catalyst for growth and transformation. Posttraumatic growth is both a process and an outcome.
The mainstream mental health system has codified the problematic notion that times of trauma and struggle are permanently diminishing. Those struggling are taught they should learn to live with their “new normal” and rely on pharmaceuticals to feel less trauma. This in anathema to what is known about Veterans, successful approaches, and the importance of a growth mindset.
Posttraumatic growth restores a sense of hope and agency to the lives of those struggling, and it provides them with an incentive to do the hard work of making sense of their post-trauma life—because life can and should be better and more meaningful than before.
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And if the moderator does not like what is written here, it never gets print, the VA safeguard yo only tell 1/2 the story and zero truth!!
Money from disability payments solves nothing. No one can MAKE you get better. It’s on you. You can choose to wallow and be an angry victim of your own making and try to use drugs and money to “solve” your issues. Or YOU can make the decision to live. No one owes you anything. Before you whine, combat veteran on M1A1 tanks in Iraq and 22 years in law enforcement at street patrol level in a 1 million plus city for my entire career. If you need to live in your past to avoid hard work and struggle in the present that’s on you. It’s not the VA or in my case not the VA nor the city that employed me that are the problem. It’s 100% how YOU are choosing to be a victim so you don’t have to take any responsibility for your life decisions. Just blame away and try to get pity for what you do to yourself. Man up.
Odd, the VA doesn’t a knowledge this writing yet prints it, the VA has its own major problems in dealing with post traumatic mental heath issues yet refused to address them equally across the board. What makes this person such an expat that the VA prints this? The VA own refusal to address the appeal backlog sitting at the BVA is Va part of the high dui ide rate with Veterans!! Yet the VA does nothing! The VA itself has shown repeat they just want to publish stories but take zero action to resolve!!!!