Exposure Therapy

[K-9 Al]

So, ive heard mixed reviews about this. One side says, "if you are subjected to the stimulas over and over again at some point the danger will be extincted from your brain." Others says, "exposure to the same stiumulus can cause re-trauma"

Well, im here to say I agree with the later. Here is why. We bought our home in 08, about 5 months before I deployed. I didnt realize until i got back just how close we were to the ranges. We can hear the artillery fire from the ranges and the loud BOOMS and stuff. Well every once ina w hile they will do training and it is like Baghdad around here with the boombs and stuff. it gets to me every single damn time. Causes intense panic, a lot of confusion, i start to lose touch with the fact that I am stateside, i start to shake, get pissed off. My wife usually grabs my headphones so i can blast them while the barrage is going on. Youd think by now id be used to it.

I think what screws it for me is because the randomness. We wont hear it for weeks then all of the sudden, out of no where its BAM, BOOM, CRASH....just like deployed. Things are quiet and your "relaxing" and then all hell breaks loose and your scrambling, ducking and dodging.

I do not think I will ever get better living in this house with the ranges several miles away.

 

[Ned]

I agree totally with the randomness factor. Because of Northern Ireland I got revved up by an awful lot of 'normal' suburban stimuli.
Dickhead kid zooming around in his hastchback? = threat
Someone looking at me for more than a second? = dicking
Fireworks? = obvious
Strange car outside house? = carbomb
Washing machine on spin-cycle? = chopper winding up to take me somewhere nasty.

and so it goes.
Al, what I learnt to do was fine-tune and become a bit of an anorak and learn what was on my side:

Now I know when a VC-10 jet from Brize goes overhead (it's on my side)
Now I know a Chinook is OK (of Course)
When I'm on site and the Arty starts off, it's MY arty!
I suppose what I'm saying is the only way of dealing with it is to position yourself.

If you are in a firebase the outbound bangs are good things?
They are doing good things and so on.
Last thought. How about talking to the range warden, and seeing if you can be copied in to the range scheds?

 

[K-9 Al]

Ah, didnt even think about talking to the range warden. Guess, I will have to research the contact info. I try and calm myself down and say, "its just teh ranges" but that doesnt even work at all. I get very confused and start to seriously think im back in iraq..its sets off a lot of panic and confusion because im in civilian clothes, with my family but yet I am feeling like I am in iraq again. I wait for the other boom and wait for my house to explode. I actually visualize it. Ughh, sucks

 

[Ned]

Mate I reckon if you knew the scheds you could just look at the fridge door and say 'Outstanding, spot-on time'

 

[Jimmy1]

Mate, my levels still go up after 4 years. But the major thing is that I can tell myself that I am ok and calm down quickly.

I don't think any of us will every be the same, we just learn to live with it.

 

[Still Proving Myself]

I'm working through exposure therapy right now with a VA PTSD program here in SC. It's actually proved pretty helpful, and I was wicked skeptical at first. The beginning was absolute hell. I couldn't sleep. Horrible nightmares. Horrible episodes. The crazy thing was, after I kept doing it, and kept forcing myself to do the "homework" my therapist gave me (basically going into situations that make me freak out, for short periods of time, etc), I noticed I actually did start to react less strongly. The difference wasn't big at first, but now...nearly 5 months into the therapy, the difference is huge. I'm actually starting to talk to people at the grocery store, smile at strangers again, take my kids to a museum (albeit still in the morning, when it's less crowded...but before, I'd never even go in!) and a lot of other little things that add up. The best part is that it's kinda cumulative. When I started noticing that I had that little bit of difference in my reaction, I wanted things to improve more...so I kept doing my therapy even when I hated it and wanted to scream and quit. I'm far from better. I have some wicked episodes still, but at least now I feel like there's this thin beam of light. A tiny bit of hope that I might not always have to feel this way.

Just my experience. Everyone is so different, it's hard to say what will work for one person will work for another.