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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
12
STEPS FOR PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
STEP
ONE (Power):
Our first step is to accept the fact that we have
become powerless to live meaningful lives.
Even though we had the power to survive against the worst combat
conditions, we must admit we have become powerless to win the battle
against a new enemy—our memories, flashbacks, and combat instincts.
Some of us have become powerless over the continuing wish to gain
revenge over those who have hurt us. Many of us continue to be
powerless over sudden impulses to hurt those who cross us, or
unsuspectingly annoy us. We even hurt hose who try to love us, making
it impossible to live and care for our family and friends. So, we
isolate ourselves and cause others to avoid, dislike, or even hate us.
Our attempts to live meaningful lives and fight this psychological and
emotional hell which imprisons us seem to be in vain. We now find
ourselves powerless to change.
STEP
TWO (Seeking Meaning): Our next step is to seek meaning in
having survived.
If we are to survive this new battle, we must seek meaning in having
survived. We want to believe we have survived for a purpose. We would
like to be free from nagging thoughts telling us we should never have
left the battlefield alive - the place where our comrades gave their
lives in war. We want to believe our lives will serve a better purpose
we are alive rather than dead. Thus, even though we often doubt that
living is better than dying, we seek to find meaning in life rather
than death, and hope to find life a privilege rather than a burden.
STEP
THREE (Trust): Our third step is to begin to find relief by
seeking help from God as we understand him, and from persons we can
learn to trust.
If we are to find relief, we seek a source of help from persons whom
we can learn to trust. Many of us also would like to trust God, as we
individually understand Him, and ask Him to show us the way out of our
mental prisons, reviewing our sensitivities to human emotions and
spiritual qualities we fear we have lost
STEP
FOUR (Self-Inventory): We will make a searching positive
Inventory of ourselves.
After taking the step of seeking and accepting help, we find ourselves
aware of many negative qualities. In fact, although we might be
willing to trust, we may fear that revealing ourselves to others will
only be a negative experience. Thus, we ask a person we trust and a
higher power to help us see our positive qualities. In that way, we
can honestly evaluate the presence of both desirable and undesirable
abilities and characteristics.
STEP
FIVE (Rage): We will admit to ourselves, to God, and to a
person whom we trust, all our angry feelings and homicidal rage.
With an awareness that we are not alone, with improved self-esteem,
and with a new-found desire to trust, we hope to understand the reason
for our continuing rage. We will take the risk of revealing our angry
feelings to a person we trust and God, as individually understood. In
so doing, we will discover that our anger is likely to be our only
defense against helplessness and experiencing other emotions. Thus,
this important step will help us to open the door to other painful
memories.
STEP
SIX (Fear): We will open the doors to the past and review to
God, and another person whom we trust, our frightening, traumatic
memories.
After beginning to realize that anger is often a defense against fear,
we will now begin to understand the link between he two. In this way,
we can begin to accept the fact that fear is normal and relief from
fear may be found by facing it with the help of someone we trust or
God, as individually understood.
STEP
SEVEN (Guilt): We will ask forgiveness from God, as we
understand Him, and recognize we are thus free from condemnation.
We ask for and accept forgiveness from God and a person(s) whom we
trust for the following:
Committing, participating in, or knowing about acts committed which
were unacceptable in our eyes, causing suffering and grief for other
persons and now causing us to feel tormented with guilt and
self-blame. After having accepted forgiveness from God and from
another person(s), we can now forgive ourselves. But, we recognize
that old habits of self-condemnation are difficult to break. Thus,
self-forgiveness must be a daily matter.
STEP
EIGHT (Grief): We seek strength and support from God and
another person finally to grieve those whom we left behind.
We seek strength to complete the grieving process for those who have
died. We would like finally to be free, shedding tears without being
lost in grief. This means also being able to understand the link
between grief and all the feelings we have harbored for many years:
Anger at those who left us alone, guilt about surviving while others
were killed, remorse for failing to save people who died, and
yearnings to join those whose bodies have already been buried.
STEP
NINE (Forgiveness vs. Self-condemnation):
We reveal to
ourselves, God and those whom we trust, all remaining suicidal or
self-destructive wishes and make a commitment to living.
We wish to expose and purge those negative forces within us which
still may prevent us from making a complete commitment to life. Thus,
after further self-evaluation, we reveal to ourselves, to God, and to
those whom we trust, all remaining suicidal wished and asked to be
purged of the remaining, destructive, death forces which have hurt
ourselves and others. Then, we seek and accept God’s daily strength to
make a daily commitment to living.
STEP
TEN (Forgiveness vs. Revenge): We reveal to ourselves, God and
another person all remaining wishes for revenge and asked for God’s
strength to give these up.
We seek and accept Gods strength to give up our wished for revenge
toward those who hurt us and injured or killed our friends and loved
ones so we can learn the full meaning of love of God, of others, and
of ourselves.
STEP
ELEVEN (Finding Direction):
We seek knowledge and direction
from God for a renewed purpose for our lives.
Having been freed from those burdens which have kept us from having a
meaningful and purposeful live, we are ready to find a renewed purpose
for our lives. Recognizing that God’s power also can be a source of
strength to live, we will seek daily freedom from old burdens or new
problems through prayer, meditation, and a daily surrender to God. In
this way, we can continue to find daily freedom from the past prison
of rage, guilty memories, and impacted grief, and gain knowledge of
His purpose for our lives and the endurance to carry it out.
STEP
TWELVE (Loving and helping others):
Having experienced
spiritual rebirth, we seek Gods strength to love others and help those
who suffer as we have.
Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we seek
to carry this message and to help all those who have suffered as we
have suffered.
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Suicide Prevention Lifeline for US Military Veterans
The
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline* has a new feature for
veterans. Call for yourself, or someone you care about:
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
and press 1. Your call is free and confidential. |
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