For many veterans, Independence Day can be a hard day.鈥��
Celebrating America鈥檚 birthday typically comes with booming, colorful blasts of fireworks. We don鈥檛 talk about it a lot, but for veterans with PTSD, that can be a struggle. It can remind them of combat or other traumatic experiences from their time in the military.鈥�
鈥淲e often have veterans who describe, regretfully, dreading this time of year,鈥� said Dr. Mandy Rabenhorst Bell, PTSD Program Manager with the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System. 鈥淎lthough they love the celebration and maybe used to find this a very joyful time of year, now they don't -- and find that they no longer kind of approach it with the same sense of joy and wonder as they once did.鈥�
Rabenhorst noted that she鈥檚 had the opportunity to provide evidence-based, trauma-focused care and treatment for veterans who say they want to get back to enjoying Fourth of July activities with family. She said treatment doesn鈥檛 mean the individual won鈥檛 ever feel uncomfortable or anxious anymore, but it does help them learn to cope in healthy ways, that allow them to engage in an activity that feels meaningful to them.
鈥淎nd I think that knowing that that recovery is possible, that returning people to the experience of a full and vibrant life, is what treatment is all about,鈥� she said.鈥�
Rabenhorst joined host Erin O鈥橳oole to give a glimpse at what the Fourth of July is like for those with PTSD 鈥� and how friends, family and neighbors can help support them.鈥��
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