Retrain Your Brain With Timothy Kendrick
Web Site Educates About Hiring War Vets
By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer
They survived war, but for some Iraq and Afghanistan veterans going to work back home isn't easy, either.
An estimated 300,000 from the two wars have returned home with mental health problems, so-called invisible wounds, and about the same number suffered head injuries, according to a private study from the RAND Corp. think tank. Associated problems can include depression, flashbacks, irritability, headaches and short-term memory loss.
For those in the National Guard and Reserves, returning to a civilian job at a workplace such as a bank or firehouse can be difficult as they make the transition back while trying to cope with new issues. Also, some veterans have complained they can't find work after they leave the military because employers are hesitant to hire them.
Starting Wednesday, the Labor Department is making available to current or potential employers resources to help them better understand the mental health issues veterans may face. It is rolling out a Web site, America's Heroes at Work, and has created a toll-free number, 800-526-7234, for employers with questions.
One of the messages of the initiative is that many of the veterans' symptoms are either manageable or will go away with time. Another message is that small changes, such as scheduled rest breaks for a veteran with a traumatic brain injury, can make a big difference.
The effort was praised by veterans groups, which say a lingering stigma about veterans and mental health keeps some of them from getting jobs.
"Those injuries are something that can be accommodated," said Ryan Kules, 27, an injured Iraq veteran and former Army captain who coordinates the "warrior-to-work" program at the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project.
Last year, a presidential commission recommended that the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department aggressively work to prevent, diagnose and treat veterans with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder — signature wounds of the Iraq war.
Traumatic brain injury is a blow or penetrating injury to the head that disrupts brain function. Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that can develop in response to an extreme event.
One of the best ways to help the vets "is to help them return to full, productive lives through work," said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. "Employment can also play a role in their recovery."
___
On the Net:
America's Heroes at Work
SilvaLifeSystem.com
Retrain Your Brain
They survived war, but for some Iraq and Afghanistan veterans going to work back home isn't easy, either.
An estimated 300,000 from the two wars have returned home with mental health problems, so-called invisible wounds, and about the same number suffered head injuries, according to a private study from the RAND Corp. think tank. Associated problems can include depression, flashbacks, irritability, headaches and short-term memory loss.
For those in the National Guard and Reserves, returning to a civilian job at a workplace such as a bank or firehouse can be difficult as they make the transition back while trying to cope with new issues. Also, some veterans have complained they can't find work after they leave the military because employers are hesitant to hire them.
Starting Wednesday, the Labor Department is making available to current or potential employers resources to help them better understand the mental health issues veterans may face. It is rolling out a Web site, America's Heroes at Work, and has created a toll-free number, 800-526-7234, for employers with questions.
One of the messages of the initiative is that many of the veterans' symptoms are either manageable or will go away with time. Another message is that small changes, such as scheduled rest breaks for a veteran with a traumatic brain injury, can make a big difference.
The effort was praised by veterans groups, which say a lingering stigma about veterans and mental health keeps some of them from getting jobs.
"Those injuries are something that can be accommodated," said Ryan Kules, 27, an injured Iraq veteran and former Army captain who coordinates the "warrior-to-work" program at the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project.
Last year, a presidential commission recommended that the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department aggressively work to prevent, diagnose and treat veterans with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder — signature wounds of the Iraq war.
Traumatic brain injury is a blow or penetrating injury to the head that disrupts brain function. Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that can develop in response to an extreme event.
One of the best ways to help the vets "is to help them return to full, productive lives through work," said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. "Employment can also play a role in their recovery."
___
On the Net:
America's Heroes at Work
SilvaLifeSystem.com
Retrain Your Brain
PTSD finding your own way
How did you find your way out of the insanity of your PTSD? I get this question quite often. After I give them my "act your way into right thinking" speech I give them a copy of my book PTSD: Pathways through the Secret Door. Lulu Press shameless plug buy it at Amazon.com
Within its 84 pages there are simple solutions to overcome, heal, and live a meaningful life.
When I was escaping from the shrinks and docs who wanted to lock me up when I was leaving Iraq. I felt nothing mainly because I had a bottle of Johnny Walker Red in me. I call that self medicating.
After years of seeing doctors and other professionals (from 93-04) I found the only way to find my way, was to find my own way. I realize that sounds a bit odd.
I tried everything that is until I drilled into my own mind and my own memories.
I was not about to share nothing with any one. I read books I went to seminars.
The only reason I took that Job in Iraq with the DOD was because I was flat broke and didn't get along with anyone because of my PTSD.
I could damn sure act though and that is what I did to get that job. Was it an unjust war? I don't know. I knew that I would be at home in that element and that I would have money. I found no WMD's by the way.
I wanted to face a demon that had haunted me since Somalia in 93.
My motives were not that pure. I loved my country yes, I had sweat and bled all over the world for America. But now it was personal. My family life was crap and I could not keep a job so I went back. This was at the beginning of OIF. Most of it is a blur of memories.
I came back in a shambles. My wife received one phone call from a flight attendant and that was it. They just said. Your husband is coming home.
Little did they know the lies and sneaking deceit I had to go through to get the hell out of that mess after they wanted to institutionalize me? Imagine me crazy, Hell I knew what was wrong with me.
When I came home in 04 I began to retrain my body and my brain. I began my own search by reading tons of books and talking to a few trusted people that would listen. Very damn few.
I noticed something when I delved into my subconscious I found many things about me and my scars or "bullets in my soul", that's what I call them, that forced me to heal. Massive action was my plan and if something did not work I tried something else. There was so much pain I had all of the leverage I needed to keep going until I found solutions.
So today I find that by helping others I help myself more than I could have ever imagined.
I am still a voracious reader and sometimes in my bed at night or in the day a trigger will remind me that I must always continue to grow.
One of my mottos is Grow or Die. Everyday we move closer to what we want or farther away. Nothing stands still.
And once again what you give you get to keep.
Today I offer love, hope, peace, prosperity, and happiness to everyone I meet instead of what my wife use to call "that look".
"That look" she talks about is when the crazy warrior would return.
Yes, I am Grateful "that look" in my eyes is very rare anymore.
Thank you
Peace be with you
Within its 84 pages there are simple solutions to overcome, heal, and live a meaningful life.
When I was escaping from the shrinks and docs who wanted to lock me up when I was leaving Iraq. I felt nothing mainly because I had a bottle of Johnny Walker Red in me. I call that self medicating.
After years of seeing doctors and other professionals (from 93-04) I found the only way to find my way, was to find my own way. I realize that sounds a bit odd.
I tried everything that is until I drilled into my own mind and my own memories.
I was not about to share nothing with any one. I read books I went to seminars.
The only reason I took that Job in Iraq with the DOD was because I was flat broke and didn't get along with anyone because of my PTSD.
I could damn sure act though and that is what I did to get that job. Was it an unjust war? I don't know. I knew that I would be at home in that element and that I would have money. I found no WMD's by the way.
I wanted to face a demon that had haunted me since Somalia in 93.
My motives were not that pure. I loved my country yes, I had sweat and bled all over the world for America. But now it was personal. My family life was crap and I could not keep a job so I went back. This was at the beginning of OIF. Most of it is a blur of memories.
I came back in a shambles. My wife received one phone call from a flight attendant and that was it. They just said. Your husband is coming home.
Little did they know the lies and sneaking deceit I had to go through to get the hell out of that mess after they wanted to institutionalize me? Imagine me crazy, Hell I knew what was wrong with me.
When I came home in 04 I began to retrain my body and my brain. I began my own search by reading tons of books and talking to a few trusted people that would listen. Very damn few.
I noticed something when I delved into my subconscious I found many things about me and my scars or "bullets in my soul", that's what I call them, that forced me to heal. Massive action was my plan and if something did not work I tried something else. There was so much pain I had all of the leverage I needed to keep going until I found solutions.
So today I find that by helping others I help myself more than I could have ever imagined.
I am still a voracious reader and sometimes in my bed at night or in the day a trigger will remind me that I must always continue to grow.
One of my mottos is Grow or Die. Everyday we move closer to what we want or farther away. Nothing stands still.
And once again what you give you get to keep.
Today I offer love, hope, peace, prosperity, and happiness to everyone I meet instead of what my wife use to call "that look".
"That look" she talks about is when the crazy warrior would return.
Yes, I am Grateful "that look" in my eyes is very rare anymore.
Thank you
Peace be with you
Suicide hot line got calls from 22,000 veterans
By KATHARINE EUPHRAT, Associated Press WriterMon Jul 28, 1:10 AM ET
More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.
According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans.
This month, a former Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, who was shown in a Military Times photograph running through a battle zone carrying an Iraqi boy, died of an accidental overdose after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost five years.
Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Department, said the hot line is in place to help prevent deaths such as Dwyer's. "We just want them to know there's other options and people do care about them, and we can help them make a difference in their lives," she said in an interview.
The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, two veterans groups sued the VA, citing long delays for processing applications and other problems in treatment for veterans at risk for suicide. The department has spent $2.9 million on the hot line thus far.
The hot line receives up to 250 calls per day — double the average number calling when it began. Kemp said callers are divided evenly between veterans from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars. Richard McKeon, public health adviser for SAMHSA, said 10 to 20 of the 1,575 calls received each week have to be rerouted to high-volume backup call centers throughout the country.
The VA estimates that every year 6,500 veterans take their own lives. The mental health director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in an e-mail last December that of the 18 veterans who commit suicide each day, four to five of them are under VA care, and 12,000 veterans under VA care are attempting suicide each year.
This month, the hot line began an advertising campaign in Washington area subway stations and buses featuring the slogan, "It takes the courage and strength of a warrior to ask for help."
The veterans hot line, which is linked to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, received 55,000 callers in its first year, including both veterans and people who are concerned about them, according to figures being released Monday. One-third of the 40 specially trained counselors are veterans themselves.
"We try to get them (callers) to talk about their situation and what they remember and see if they can identify exactly what their issues are. I think there's a comfort in knowing that they can get some help from people who do understand what combat stress is like," Kemp said.
From the call center, counselors instantly can check a veteran's medical records and then connect the caller to local VA suicide prevention coordinators for follow-up, monitoring and care at local VA medical centers. Kemp said that since the hot line started, 106 veterans have been steered to free medical care from the VA.
Kemp said the hot line was put in place specifically for those veterans who don't get enough help until it's too late. "They have indicated to us that they are in extreme danger, either they have guns in their hand or they're standing on a bridge, or they've already swallowed pills," she said. Kemp said 1,221 veterans who were in such situations were rescued during the hot line's first year.
The VA is preparing for the eventual return of a large number of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. This could put added stress on the mental health screening program for returning veterans, which could lead to a rise in undiagnosed mental health issues. The VA recently got enough money to double its suicide prevention staff and is planning to hire 212 more people soon.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling 800-273-TALK (8255); veterans should press "1" after being connected.
___
On the Net:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1430313196?
More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.
According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans.
This month, a former Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, who was shown in a Military Times photograph running through a battle zone carrying an Iraqi boy, died of an accidental overdose after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost five years.
Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Department, said the hot line is in place to help prevent deaths such as Dwyer's. "We just want them to know there's other options and people do care about them, and we can help them make a difference in their lives," she said in an interview.
The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, two veterans groups sued the VA, citing long delays for processing applications and other problems in treatment for veterans at risk for suicide. The department has spent $2.9 million on the hot line thus far.
The hot line receives up to 250 calls per day — double the average number calling when it began. Kemp said callers are divided evenly between veterans from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars. Richard McKeon, public health adviser for SAMHSA, said 10 to 20 of the 1,575 calls received each week have to be rerouted to high-volume backup call centers throughout the country.
The VA estimates that every year 6,500 veterans take their own lives. The mental health director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in an e-mail last December that of the 18 veterans who commit suicide each day, four to five of them are under VA care, and 12,000 veterans under VA care are attempting suicide each year.
This month, the hot line began an advertising campaign in Washington area subway stations and buses featuring the slogan, "It takes the courage and strength of a warrior to ask for help."
The veterans hot line, which is linked to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, received 55,000 callers in its first year, including both veterans and people who are concerned about them, according to figures being released Monday. One-third of the 40 specially trained counselors are veterans themselves.
"We try to get them (callers) to talk about their situation and what they remember and see if they can identify exactly what their issues are. I think there's a comfort in knowing that they can get some help from people who do understand what combat stress is like," Kemp said.
From the call center, counselors instantly can check a veteran's medical records and then connect the caller to local VA suicide prevention coordinators for follow-up, monitoring and care at local VA medical centers. Kemp said that since the hot line started, 106 veterans have been steered to free medical care from the VA.
Kemp said the hot line was put in place specifically for those veterans who don't get enough help until it's too late. "They have indicated to us that they are in extreme danger, either they have guns in their hand or they're standing on a bridge, or they've already swallowed pills," she said. Kemp said 1,221 veterans who were in such situations were rescued during the hot line's first year.
The VA is preparing for the eventual return of a large number of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. This could put added stress on the mental health screening program for returning veterans, which could lead to a rise in undiagnosed mental health issues. The VA recently got enough money to double its suicide prevention staff and is planning to hire 212 more people soon.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling 800-273-TALK (8255); veterans should press "1" after being connected.
___
On the Net:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1430313196?
I don’t call it Brainwashing I call it Dry Cleaning
Current mood: totally satisfied, I just want more
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
JOURNALING
I have notebooks filled with everything from profound revelations to plain gibberish. There is an old saying "the faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory." I read back through my journal and think "wow, what kind of an emotional state was I in when I wrote that."
Every night I make an effort to write down what I learned that day. I also write down my plans for the next day. I may not follow them to a "T" but I have cleared my mind of all the clutter and I sleep better knowing I have made some attempt at a plan of action.
Some of my scribbling is just numbers, names, goals, affirmations, and incantations. I even have a fine selection of cornball slogans (that have saved my life on more than one occasion). The most important thing is I am taking positive action. Remember when I write these down they burn into my subconscious. The subconscious as I have said before cannot distinguish between what is real or imagined. That last statement has helped me more than I would have ever imagined. I changed my beliefs and values about past situations. This allowed my healing to shift into autopilot.
Writing has made me push through different thresholds of stagnation. It allowed me to gain control of my emotional state. It is a MUST to be in charge of this wonderful mechanism called the subconscious mind. I have taken tragic events from the wars and turned them into positive living experiences. Willie Nelson said, "Everyone has their own snakes to kill." What may have destroyed me might not have even fazed you. This is why putting it on paper takes the fear out of it and puts it into a different perspective.
Remember if we keep doing what we have always done, we will get what we always got (pain).
You can act your way into right thinking but one can never think their way into right acting. Look at the first three letters of the word ACTion? There is a story about two old crows sitting on a fence and one of them says to the other "I think I'm going to fly over and get some corn." How many crows are on the fence now? Two, because the one said, "I think." He never took action.
Action is the thing that makes your life plan become a reality. The crow had a plan, flying to get some corn but he never left the fence. Make a plan for the actions you want for the next day every night before you go to bed. This does two things, one it clears your head of an awful lot of what I call "Grand Central Station" thinking. Two, it gives you a plan of action to follow.
The next day you may not get to every item you have on your list but this will keep you from sitting around all day like the crows on the fence and going insane.
Sanity is defined as soundness of mind. With PTSD when we are alone we are not in very good company unless we are meditating or putting something positive into our subconscious, TAKE ACTION!
It doesn't get any easier later it just gets later...
Peace be with you
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
JOURNALING
I have notebooks filled with everything from profound revelations to plain gibberish. There is an old saying "the faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory." I read back through my journal and think "wow, what kind of an emotional state was I in when I wrote that."
Every night I make an effort to write down what I learned that day. I also write down my plans for the next day. I may not follow them to a "T" but I have cleared my mind of all the clutter and I sleep better knowing I have made some attempt at a plan of action.
Some of my scribbling is just numbers, names, goals, affirmations, and incantations. I even have a fine selection of cornball slogans (that have saved my life on more than one occasion). The most important thing is I am taking positive action. Remember when I write these down they burn into my subconscious. The subconscious as I have said before cannot distinguish between what is real or imagined. That last statement has helped me more than I would have ever imagined. I changed my beliefs and values about past situations. This allowed my healing to shift into autopilot.
Writing has made me push through different thresholds of stagnation. It allowed me to gain control of my emotional state. It is a MUST to be in charge of this wonderful mechanism called the subconscious mind. I have taken tragic events from the wars and turned them into positive living experiences. Willie Nelson said, "Everyone has their own snakes to kill." What may have destroyed me might not have even fazed you. This is why putting it on paper takes the fear out of it and puts it into a different perspective.
Remember if we keep doing what we have always done, we will get what we always got (pain).
You can act your way into right thinking but one can never think their way into right acting. Look at the first three letters of the word ACTion? There is a story about two old crows sitting on a fence and one of them says to the other "I think I'm going to fly over and get some corn." How many crows are on the fence now? Two, because the one said, "I think." He never took action.
Action is the thing that makes your life plan become a reality. The crow had a plan, flying to get some corn but he never left the fence. Make a plan for the actions you want for the next day every night before you go to bed. This does two things, one it clears your head of an awful lot of what I call "Grand Central Station" thinking. Two, it gives you a plan of action to follow.
The next day you may not get to every item you have on your list but this will keep you from sitting around all day like the crows on the fence and going insane.
Sanity is defined as soundness of mind. With PTSD when we are alone we are not in very good company unless we are meditating or putting something positive into our subconscious, TAKE ACTION!
It doesn't get any easier later it just gets later...
Peace be with you
Ramblings from "A Bullet in my Soul" Release date spring 2009
by Timothy Kendrick
Personal Desires
Here is an easy way to see if the outcome you desire is really, really what you want.
How does it make you feel when you do it or think about doing it?
Remember there is no logic in thinking so you must get emotional about it.
Does your heart race in a pleasant manner and time seems to stand still.
Or does it suck the life out of you and you dread every second of it.
Are you drained spiritually, mentally or physically after you have done the chosen path?
Your ego will say this is what I SHOULD DO or this is what "they" want. "They" without proclaiming who or what is nothing more than an excuse.
When I am following my joy through an easy and relaxed manner, abundance, peace and wealth flow through and around me.
Bombs could be going off and I would not even know it.
When I was a soldier for some odd reason I had many moments of ecstatic bliss.
I was at peace more than not when seriously heavy shizzit was going on around me. (war)
Many of my Superiors thought I was totally nuts (I was) and locked me up on more than one occasion.
I'm not saying I did not pay a price for that lifestyle. If you read my first book you will know.
I did pay a price although greater men and women than I have paid a bigger price.
I would not for a moment give up any one of those experiences that enlightened me and helped make me who I am today.
This leads back to my ego. "I" thought "they" were out to get me so I volunteered for every shit job overseas I could find because when I was around the Stateside Bases it was only a matter of time before my old patterns would creep in and my mouth would get me in trouble.
Besides I did not like that entire saluting ass kissing lifer crap. Remember this was my perception, my own B.S. (belief systems)
"I" wanted to be where I could kind of make my own rules (ego again). Most of the places I went there were no rules.
I remember when I landed in Somalia I ask an old-timer there "what are the rules of engagement?" He says to me "there aren't any". My kind of war. (I was a professional really)
I had no intention of coming back alive. (My plan, not the divinities)
So how do we know what is right or wrong for us, wise or unwise?
Remember the villain is the hero of his own story.
Well you just follow your bliss.
My bliss today is contributing to my fellow man.
This is why I always paraphrase Wayne Dyer's 4 phases of life when I say Athlete, Warrior, Statesman, and Spiritual Being.
Don't get me wrong, I touched many souls when I traveled the globe and many people who are no longer in this dimension of existence touched mine.
In spite of my insanity there were positive things that came out of it. Mostly when Divine Intervention intervened.
People ask me about spiritual experiences which I have had several powerful ones.
Well as far as I know about god.
1.God is this moment,
2.God is in everything
3.God wants us to be abundant so we can better serve our fellow man
4.God knows what he's doing, That's how he got the job!!
When the day comes and "they" chunk me in the ground the only thing that will mean a damn thing is that dash - between my date of birth and my date of death.
That little dash -
What does that little dash represent to you?
Now is all there is and all there will ever be.
What have you given to mankind in your moments of this day?
Remember, what you give you get to keep?
Whose soul have you touched today?
We don't die.
We are just a bundle of energy on a short trip through this dimension to learn, love, live and yes leave a legacy?
What is your Legacy you want to leave?
Click Here To Unleash The Power Of Your Subconscious
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