By Carolyn Herrick
Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day.
To raise awareness of this staggering fact and promote veterans getting help instead of ending their lives, my friend and fellow veteran, Susanna organized a 22-day challenge that I’m participating in with a bunch of other folks all over the world. We are walking or running at least one mile a day for 22 days.
Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day.
To raise awareness of this staggering fact and promote veterans getting help instead of ending their lives, my friend and fellow veteran, Susanna organized a 22-day challenge that I’m participating in with a bunch of other folks all over the world. We are walking or running at least one mile a day for 22 days.
This challenge is great for a few reasons, not the least of which is that I have not exercised at all in weeks or regularly in months because I have been struggling with my own mental health. After losing 37 lbs by eating clean and exercising 6 days a week for months after I had our son, I recently have discontinued working on my physical health as I felt myself sinking back into my depression. A lot. Another military move, combined with a newly-mobile toddler, overturned my previous schedule. I missed my friends and it took time to make new ones here.
I haven’t struggled for awhile. I find it comes in waves. | Weaning brought on a wave of postpartum that I didn’t realize could happen, so I was totally unprepared for it. And I still struggled with a lot of PTSD symptoms - not from a deployment, ironically, but my childhood. I have struggled with PTSD since I was at least 12 years old - the age when I OD’d on Excedrin PM as a cry for help. When I got scared I would actually die from my OD and told my parents what I had done, my dad laid me out, face down, spread-eagle, on his king-sized bed, and “spanked” me with an oak paddle before he drove me to the hospital. Then he took my entire bank account (a couple hundred dollars of babysitting money) to use toward our copay. |
I haven’t struggled for awhile. I find it comes in waves. I will be good for a while, and then something in my life changes — as I described earlier — and it triggers a whole lot of difficult thoughts and feelings. I’m doing better now. Acupuncture reset some of the postpartum I was struggling with. For my anxiety, I called Military One Source for some counseling (and trust me, I called more than one local hospital lactation consultant in tears). My doctor suggested — along with my other treatments — that I continue to use my essential oils and take the supplements I have been using, get good sleep, and get 150 mins of cardio exercise a week. I love that whole-person, mind/body/spirit approach! (Side note: I have a great doc, and if you aren't happy with yours, I think you should try to switch to one who relates well to you and a course of treatment that resonates with you and your lifestyle.) MilOne also hooked me up with a free telephonic Health and Wellness Coach, which is a service I didn’t know existed. It’s client based, which is really cool! She helps me determine what some of my health and wellness goals are, and encourages me whether I reach them or not.
So to say this challenge is perfect for me right now is an understatement. Many people don’t realize I struggle with these things because I present myself well and often keep my issues in the closet. But what better time to be honest than when I am raising awareness for suicide prevention. If I can help even one fellow vet, sad mama friend, or childhood trauma victim seek and get help, my honesty will have been worth it.
Many Kind Regards,
Carolyn
Why is it so hard for us to ask for help with mental health? See how one writer has decided to erase her own stigma about PTSD.
Photo credit: Hubspot
So to say this challenge is perfect for me right now is an understatement. Many people don’t realize I struggle with these things because I present myself well and often keep my issues in the closet. But what better time to be honest than when I am raising awareness for suicide prevention. If I can help even one fellow vet, sad mama friend, or childhood trauma victim seek and get help, my honesty will have been worth it.
Many Kind Regards,
Carolyn
Why is it so hard for us to ask for help with mental health? See how one writer has decided to erase her own stigma about PTSD.
Photo credit: Hubspot