LGBT
Veterans Stand Up to PTSD
by Robert
Guthrie
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On Monday,
July 29, 2013, thirteen Veterans were admitted
to the Specialized Inpatient PTSD Unit at the
Department of Veterans Affairs Salem VA Medical
Center (SVAMC) located in Salem, Virginia, for a
45-day treatment program. These Veterans, who
are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, are
the first to participate in an inpatient
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) program
specifically for them.
The SVAMC
inpatient PTSD program has been providing
services since 1990. While numerous Veterans
from the LGBT community participated in our
program, it became clear to our staff that some
LGBT Veterans felt it necessary to hide who they
are. Once “don’t ask, don’t tell” came to an
end, we knew it was time to offer LGBT Veterans
care in a setting that recognizes and celebrates
a person’s right to be exactly who they are.
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It’s ironic
that so much of PTSD is about secrets like: I
can’t let people know what I did in combat; I
can’t let people know what happened to me; if
people know what happened they will never look
at me in the same way; I know what happened and
I can barely admit it to myself. How in the
world could someone who hasn’t been there
understand?
It’s also
ironic because so much of military life for LGBT
GIs has also been about secrets: If I let others
know who I really am, someone could hurt me; if
I let others know who I really am, they might
not have my back; if I let them know who I
really am, my career will be over. |
These
powerful secrets can contribute to Veterans
withdrawing from life and loved ones and from a
world that only seems to remind them of the bad
things that have happened. Eventually, some
people end up living in a bunker that others
refer to as a garage, a basement, or a bedroom.
Life gets smaller and smaller as the grip of
avoidance becomes tighter and tighter. And
sometimes it gets so bad that people only feel
comfortable in their body when they’re drunk or
high or angry.
Maybe this
isn’t exactly what the lives of the men and
women who have entered our program are like, but
it’s close. Veterans who take part in treatment
for PTSD have frequently had a close friend die
in combat, killed someone themselves, were
raped, or were beaten by the very people who
were supposed to have their back. On top of
that, there’s a good chance that as a kid
someone used them as a punching bag or to
satisfy their sexual urges. And if they feel
people hate them for who they are, then that’s
the nasty icing on a nasty cake.
Over the next
six weeks, LGBT Veterans who have come to SVAMC
from all over the county seeking help for their
PTSD will have a chance to find a way out of the
bunker in which they’ve come to live. They will
have a chance to be accepted for who they are.
They will have a chance to connect with other
LGBT Veterans and with straight allies who want
nothing more than for each person to live their
life as they wish to live it. And just possibly,
this sense of respect and caring will allow them
to take a look at, and give voice to, what
happened to them while serving our country;
enabling them to live the full, rich, and loving
lives they deserve.
We will
encourage them to face the things that scare
them; be mindful of themselves and the world
around them; to identify the values within
themselves; to focus on the positive; to commit
to take action - even when they don’t feel like
it; to have hope for a bright future and let go
of a past that can’t be changed; and to work
toward regaining an emotional flexibility they
thought was gone forever.
And when the
45 days of treatment are over, these Veterans
will return home and begin the real work of
being present in their lives.
Robert
Guthrie is a U.S. Army Veteran, a psychologist,
on the faculty of the University of Virginia
School of Medicine, and coordinator of the Salem
VA medical center’s specialized inpatient PTSD
unit.
Veterans must have a diagnosis of PTSD;
be eligible/enrolled for VA healthcare;
and referred by their outpatient
provider to be considered for the
inpatient program. For additional
information please call (540) 982-2463,
Ext. 2550. |