RECORDING: The Hidden Impact of Military Service on Families of Veterans

[Ru-bee]

At the bottom of this post is a very special community webinar. 

Ruth Clare, author of Enemy and renowned lived experience speaker, explores the often-unseen impacts of military trauma on the families of veterans. 

Watch the recording below

This webinar is personal, raw and very inclusive. It is a must watch!

About Ruth Clare 

Ruth Clare is the award-winning author of Enemy, a memoir about growing up as the child of a Vietnam veteran. She is also a TEDx and keynote speaker, qualified scientist, coach, and copywriter. Her work combines compelling storytelling, research, and practical tools to support others facing trauma to create thriving lives. Her TEDx talk, The Pain of Hiding Your True Self, has reached over half a million viewers, and her next two books, Beyond Fight Flight Freeze Fawn and Turn Fear into Courage, will be published this year. 

[MamiyaFan]

hi @Ruth_Clare  🙂

As the son and grandson of veterans on both sides of my family and as a veteran myself

How much do you feel intergenerational PTSD and the genetic damage caused by PTSD is passed on to children?

So not just the parent is damaged but the children are also already damaged and facing an unstable parent and or family ?

[tyme]

Thanks for yoru question. @MamiyaFan 

@Ruth_Clare , are you able to provide some insight into the above question/s?

[MamiyaFan]

Asking for help
For decades I refused to ask for help
Finally I decided I needed actual real world help to resolve a problem caused by DVA so over 4 years ago I asked for help

I have been asking for help for over 4 years now and the constant reply is "We don't / can't help people like you"

The rejection from people who promise help and then refuse help is depressing and upsetting.

Organizations that promise things like "We will find the right support / service to help you"

And then simply cannot or will not make any effort to provide help.

These are people paid and employed to help disabled people and very often disabled veterans but they get angry and upset with me because they set my PTSD off, then they get even more upset when I tell them they are the ones who are causing the problems and they are victim blaming

[tyme]

Thank you for sharing @MamiyaFan .

I hear your concerns and I'm sorry you have not been able to get the help you've been asking for, for the last 4 years. I hear how frustrating, upsetting and depressing this can be for you and your loved ones.

We recognise it takes a lot of strength to reach out and ask for help in the first place, so we definitely want to acknowledge the effort taken to reach out here.

We hope you will find peers whom you can share your journey with so that your journey feels less isolating.

Please take care,

tyme

[Ruth_Clare]

Your situation sounds really frustrating and disheartening @MamiyaFan. It is so hard to finally reach out for help and feel like the help you need isn't there. I can't quite tell what the help you have sought is for. From what you wrote, it sounds you are wanting help with a practical DVA issue and that the lack of support you are receiving makes you angry, and then in response people "get angry and upset with me because they set my PTSD off"? Is that correct? I wonder if you have ever sought psychological support for your PTSD?