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Best counselor I ever had taught cbt. It was by far the most helpful, but the most difficult to practice, but it's worth it. It all goes back to irrational thoughts!

Unfortunately, what you have gone through seems to be the norm. Agencies distance themselves from you and you are no longer a priority to them. After serving 22 years when my 1100 hours of sick time ran out I was placed on unpaid leave for about 6 weeks until my retirement board approved my...

I can relate somewhat. Although I didn't want my career back, I think I found a new beginning. As weird as it may seem, I got a part time job at a funeral home. Low stress, nothing to do with prepping or dealing with the deceased. Just transporting flowers to the service and greeting people...

Glad to see he back out working, but hate to see he doesnt like it. I'm not at the point yet I could work full time and part time would be a stretch due to severe fatigue. I might could do 4-5 hrs one day a week. It's hard to understand unless one has experienced it. It's a challenge to stay...

Any former Leo's out there that had to leave the profession due to ptsd? I had to retire ten months ago and haven't been in uniform in 17 months. As you know as police officers, we have a calling and a mission and I guess you could say a life purpose. All that is gone now obviously and I'm...

Well spoken. Thank you.

Makes sense. I have the same history interest I had before being diagnosed, I just try and avoid anything current or that could be a trigger for the event in 2011. I had been around law enforcement my whole life, grandfather and father both Leo's and i got involved in the explorer program at...

Are there any former Leo's that have obtained ptsd from being a law enforcement that still enjoy the history of the profession or agency? Like looking through old pictures of the patrol cars that were used before your time, etc?

Funny you should mention that. My dream is to be able to have classes that teach healthy coping skills. I was never given the tools to deal with the day to day stress. By the time someone seeks help, unfortunately a lot of times they are badly wounded. Prevention is the way to go by giving...

I know at least one of them they did.

In Florida our Governor just signed a bill that recognizes ptsd as an occupational disease and has it covered under workers comp now. That's a huge step forward because although workers comp will try to fight the employee, its slowly transitioning from the pink elephant in the room everyone...

Prescription or natural? I can't function without a mega B vitamin daily and a monster energy tea. And sometimes that doesn't work.

I'm not sure if this is comforting or not, but some professionals will say debriefings where you re tell the incident may cause more harm than good. As far as preventing ptsd, they are doing studies and giving trauma victims certain meds right after the incident to see if that helps prevent...

I went through a mourning period too, which is normal. One day I was at work then the next day I wasnt. Closure was challenging because my retirement was unexpected and I didn't want the retirement ceremony. You'll make it. Allow yourself to mourn the loss and make friends with your new self.

I had a hard time accepting that new part of me. I use to put 120% into everything and worked hard being a cop. The cumulative stress plus one major event did me in. Funny thing is I worked with it for about 6yrs because no one told me what to look for after the incident. I started calling...

I too think Docs are quick to label lack of energy on depression. It is one of the symptoms, but it isn't the only one. I'm a firm believer the mind and body are connected and when your stress or a trauma effects your brain, it also effects the body.

Unfortunately I expected others to have the same lack of energy. My personal belief is the trauma short circuits the sympathetic nervous system and that may be the cause of fatigur

If you were in law enforcement and developed ptsd, have you experienced a lack of energy? If so, did it improve or are some days just better than others?

Has anyone had challenges with any of these traits since being diagnosed with ptsd? If so, how do you make progress with them?

That's right. Someone did a study years ago and determined the average Leo sees more in like 3 yrs (can't remember exact number) than the average person sees in a lifetime.

I can relate to finding yourself again. The old me slowly died a slow death starting the day of my incident. And that person is gone. Now my job is to find the new person who is inside the same body I've had since birth. I view it as a special kind of freedom to learn and explore while...

Tell him to learn techniques that will allow him to deal with and hopefully overcome the cumulative stress and traumatic events he will experience. It HAS to be effectively dealt with and not internalized or dealt with in unhealthy ways like abusing alcohol. If it isn't, it will manifest...

Remember hindsight is always 20/20. Glad to be out of the toxicity. Part of what helped and hurt me too was I didn't really have a choice. Doc said no more. I guess when retirement is on our terms and is expected it might be a better transition. I came home mid shift one day due to fatigue...

It's sad the organizations you gave 100% to quickly cut the cord when you are suffering. If I would have been shot on duty, I would have had the support of almost the whole community, but when your cup overflows, you become distanced. Once I used up all my sick time, I was put on unpaid leave...

Amen. Professionals sometimes are quick to label the fatigue as depression. I recently spoke with a trauma expert on the phone and she confirmed the mind, body and spirit/ soul are all related and the trauma and stress can wear the body out. I wish I had been given the tools to deal with the...