The until IT IS zero Project is working to help reduce the number of Veteran suicides from 22 per day to ZERO. This multi-phased project, hosted by the Warrior Thunder Foundation, a MA-based nonprofit and in conjunction with other organizations is attacking the issue with several events over the next year. Although centered in around the New England area, I think these local efforts do the most good because you have people working in their own back yards and responsible for people they know.
THE PLAN
Phase I – We will bring the “Graffiti of War Project” to the Boston area on August 8 – 10, 2014. The art exposition, done by those in combat and after combat, offers a unique, individual perpective, through their eyes and their emotions. Each image represents a moment in time, when an emotion was captured in ink, paint, or pencil, an unconventional historical record of this generation’s war. Our Mission is that through sharing these images, we will begin a dialog between soldier and civilian, to bridge this ever-widening divide between those who have endured these wars and the rest of the world that can only imagine the horrors. To bring understanding and true empathy of what these men and women experience during modern conflicts. There will also be workshops for Veterans looking to use art therapy in their lives.
Phase II – We will host “the MILITARY and PTSD” in the Boston area in late October 2014. This conference will provide education for civilian mental healthcare professionals on the special nuances of the military and those with combat-related PTSD, TBI and transitional issues. With Veterans flocking away from the over-burdened VA system, the civilian mental health care professionals will be the ones to treat our men and women who have served. We need to ensure that they are familiar with the special differences of treating someone with combat-related PTSD.
Phase III – In late spring of 2015, we will host a free PTSD Retreat in a quiet, remote location for military and Veteran individuals and couples struggling with PTSD to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet, some great food, and the opportunity to learn about some non-medicinal, alternative therapy for PTSD like yoga, sacro-cranial massage etc. Peace, quiet, great chow and healing! What more could you want?
To learn more, visit www.warriorthunderfoundation.com/until-it-is-zero-project.
Awesome endeavor, in my book, but…
There is no more “D” on PTSD. It’s just PTS, anymore. Think about it…if a person who engages in daily activities, which would be more than happy to hurt or kill him, finds that there are methodologies/habits/modes of thought that make those activities sustainable – or which serve to keep him alive – in what way are those things disorders?
Fact is, standardized tests, IQ scores and so on can all go self-copulate. The only real test of intelligence is how an organism can adapt themselves to hardship & change, and survive intact.
I’m not saying that those who suffer PTS shouldn’t have someone to talk to, they absolutely, 100% ought to. However, to say that they have a disorder for doing what they did, feeling as they might about having done so, and/or seeking someone to talk to about it…I find that inflammatory at a minimum, as well as being medically inaccurate.
The 1st step of ending veteran suicide is ending the wars that cause these wounds. Until then its like trying to plug a sinking ship with a wine cork