Battling the Storm Within

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Tapping for War Veterans - VIDEO

This video features several Veterans and Tapping experts from the Veterans Stress Project showing just how powerful EFT Tapping can be for trauma and PTSD.

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http://www.tappingsolutionfoundation.org/tapping-for-war-veterans/

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Follow the Veterans Law Blog Formula in Your VA Claim & Never Feel Lost Again.

    

va claim


The story I am going to tell you blows my mind.  
Not because it shows you how one Veteran used the knowledge on the Veterans Law Blog to change his life and his VA Claim – dramatically – in under 6 months.




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http://www.veteranslawblog.org/va-claim-formula/

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Thank you for your service, now please go away

 

For decades, Uncle Sam gave military veterans a break by giving them extra points when they were applying/testing for certain federal jobs. The so-called Veterans Preference law also gave vets extra job security when their agencies were slimming down via a RIF (reduction in force). VP is important because Uncle Sam is one of the largest employers of veterans in the nation. Both the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have huge numbers of vets. Now VP is in danger of being watered-down and phased away without anybody noticing.

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http://federalnewsradio.com/federal-report/2016/06/than-you-for-your-service-now-please-go-away/

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Senate votes to require women to register for the draft

           

PARRIS ISLAND, SC - FEBRUARY 25:  Female Marine recruits stand in formation during boot camp February 25, 2013.  (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
PARRIS ISLAND, SC - FEBRUARY 25: Female Marine recruits stand in formation during boot camp February 25, 2013. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The United States Senate voted to pass a defense bill today that would require young women to sign up for a potential military draft for the first time in U.S. history. The vote was 85-13 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, a $600 billion defense spending bill that had a host of other controversial provisions in it, including prohibiting the closure of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and denying the Pentagon’s attempt to close military bases.


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http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2016/06/14/senate-votes-to-require-women-to-register-for-the-draft/

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Gulf War Veterans Found To Develop Specific Mental Disorder, 'Gulf War Illness,' After Trauma - VIDEO





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more...
http://www.medicaldaily.com/gulf-war-veterans-found-develop-specific-mental-disorder-gulf-war-illness-after-trauma-246814

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Senators Address Sexual Assault in Military

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. A bipartisan group of senators is urging the senate to pass the Military Justice Improvement Act, an amendment that would remove serious crimes from the chain of command.
Samantha Jackson walked up to the White House,100,000 signatures in hand, ready to share her message with President Obama.
 
"To this day I've never seen justice", said Jackson.
Earlier on Capitol Hill, Jackson told a room of senators and advocates about the day.
She was sexually assaulted by her husband, an Army soldier who raped her and videotaped it. He was never punished by the military after Samantha was told they would handle the case.
"I really did try for so long for someone to hear me", said Jackson.


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http://www.kgns.tv/home/headlines/Senators-addreszs-380732531.html

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Experts worry Suicide problem will become the new normal

Veteran suicide rates remain high seven years after the rate of suicides by soldiers more than doubled and the Army's effort to reduce the tragic pace. Experts worry the problem is a "new normal."
Seven years after the rate of suicides by soldiers more than doubled, the Army has failed to reduce the tragic pace of self-destruction, and experts worry the problem is a "new normal."


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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/06/12/military-suicide-rates/85287518/

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'Lost Voices of U.S. Veterans' sparks conversation about war

          

















 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 

16 Things To Remember If Your Loved Ones Suffer From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

 
 
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur after you have been through some form of trauma. A trauma is an emotional or physical shock to the body that you see or experience. During this type of event, you think that your life or the lives of others are in danger, leaving you feeling afraid, helpless, or out of control.

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http://dailyhack.press/16-things-to-remember-if-your-loved-ones-suffer-from-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/

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Meet The Highest Ranking Female General In US History

        Air Force Gen. Lori J. Robinson, the incoming commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, salutes during her arrival at the change of command ceremony, at Peterson Air Force Base, in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, May 13, 2016.
               
Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson, in taking charge of U.S. Northern Command, seizes a higher billet than any woman who has ever worn the uniform.
On May 13, Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson took over as leader of U.S. Northern Command, becoming the first female service member to lead a unified combatant command and thus the highest ranking woman in U.S. military history.


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http://taskandpurpose.com/meet-highest-ranking-female-general-us-history/

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Why are the younger Veterans avoiding the Veteran Service Organizations?


Why are the younger Veterans avoiding the Veteran Service Organizations?
Before I researched why the post-Vietnam generation of Veterans were not joining Veteran Service Organizations (VSO), I asked myself, “Why wouldn’t veterans want to be around other veterans?” Truly, participating in a VSO provides a unique opportunity to serve our community with people from all walks of life, and also offers the opportunity to share the bond and comradery that melds us together as proud United States Veterans



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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-younger-veterans-avoiding-veteran-service-les-davis-ma

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Tuesday, June 7, 2016

7 Ways People Who Have Been Emotionally Abused Love Different

7 Ways People Who Have Been Emotionally Abused Love Differently

The scars are internal.
When it comes to abusive relationships, it isn’t always just physical abuse. While this isn’t meant to detract from the issue of domestic abuse that far too many men/women have suffered (and still suffer), it’s to address the fact that emotional abuse can be just as damaging, but in completely different ways.
When you’re in an emotionally abusive relationship, it’s not always noticeable right away. You don’t bear the bruises of a physical attack, but you’re still scarred in many ways, and that scarring leaves an imprint that can affect every future relationship.

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http://themindsjournal.com/7-ways-people-emotionally-abused-love-differently/

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12 Toxic Behaviors that Push People Away From You 

toxic behaviors

In our line of work, Angel and I hear from hundreds of coaching clients every month.  Through this experience, we’ve come across scores of toxic behaviors that push people away from each other.  And we’ve witnessed the devastation these behaviors cause – to relationships, to personal and professional growth, and to the general well-being of both the individual behaving negatively, and to everyone in their life.

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Women in military finally getting respect - VIDEO


This Memorial Day is the first in which the ban on women in ground combat is history. Last month, West Point celebrated 40 years of women in its ranks. And the first women to graduate from Army Ranger School last year have now become part of the new old guard.

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http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/28/opinions/women-in-combat-opinion-lemmon/index.html

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PTSD Is More Common Than You Think, So Here Are 7 Things To Know About The Disorder

           




PTSD was first brought into the public consciousness after doctors observed some of the symptoms exhibited by war veterans who returned from Vietnam. The American Psychiatric Association added PTSD to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980. We now know that the illness can be caused by a wide range of events, including but not limited to: sexual assault, physical abuse, domestic violence, natural disasters, and car accidents. Witnessing a violent act can also cause PTSD — for example, if a child witnesses their parent being abused, they can develop the disorder, despite not being directly abused themselves. Typically, a PTSD sufferer continues to live in a state of psychological shock and is unable to process the associated emotions of fear and helplessness, long after the event that triggered their state has passed.

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http://www.curehealth.info/ptsd-is-more-common-than-you-think-so-here-are-7-things-to-know-about-the-disorder/

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www.battlingthestormswithin.com

If The Senate Can Agree On One Thing, It’s Basic Rights For Rape Survivors




Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., spearheaded a bill to improve how rape survivors are treated in the criminal justice system. 

The Senate voted unanimously Monday to approve legislation enacting new rights for rape survivors.
The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), would provide sexual assault victims a right to be informed about the results of forensic testing of their rape kit, and the right to have their kit preserved free of charge until the relevant state’s statute of limitations has expired. 

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senate-bill-of-rights-rape-survivors_us_57339da0e4b077d4d6f206cb

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Military spouse unemployment could cost U.S. $1B



Unemployment and underemployment of military spouses not only affects individual families, but it’s costing the U.S. economy — to the tune of about $710 million to $1 billion a year, according to a new report.

Read more......http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/05/25/report-military-spouse-unemployment-may-costing-us-up-1-billion/84868330/

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College tuition can be waived for veterans and their kids in Texas


BURLESON, Texas -- Mike Rhoten can’t help but feel proud.
His son, Levi, is getting ready to graduate from Burleson High School.
They're both excited for what comes next.
Levi plans to attend the University of North Texas in the fall.

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Sexual assault survivors now have a basic federal bill of rights

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Jan. 27, 2016. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA)

A bill shaping a federal model for sexual assault survivors’ basic rights passed unanimously in the Senate Monday, with the hope of inspiring states to follow suit. 

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Gulf War Illness

Vision - Improve the health and lives of veterans who have Gulf War Illness
Gulf War Illness Research Program Cover Image
The Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP) was initiated in 2006 to provide support for research of exceptional scientific merit to study the health effects of deployment on U.S. Warfighters during the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. The GWIRP challenges the scientific community to design high-impact research that will improve the health and lives of Veterans who have Gulf War illness (GWI).


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U.S. finally admits Agent Orange residue poisoned its own soldiers

Image: U.S. finally admits Agent Orange residue poisoned its own soldiers

After decades of denial, the Department of Veteran Affairs finally acknowledged that Monsanto’s Agent Orange, a herbicide sprayed across Vietnam during the war, was responsible for the health ailments of over 2,100 Air Force servicemen.

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http://newstarget.com/2016-05-09-u-s-finally-admits-agent-orange-residue-poisoned-its-own-soldiers.html

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We Lose More Troops to Suicide Than War; How the Stigma of PTSD Prevents Troops from Seeking Help.





As the United States prepares to mark Memorial Day weekend, it is important to recognize that currently more troops are lost here at home from self-inflicted wounds due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than from combat in distant battlefields. Society’s failure to effectively address PTSD is in part tied to its enduring association with violence, which prompts veterans to hide their diagnosis from friends and loved ones out of fear of being perceived as harmful.  Equally concerning, veterans often misdiagnose themselves as absent of PTSD when their symptoms don’t conform to society’s interpretation of it, leaving them without the medical care they need.


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http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/05/veterans-sex-therapy/482199/

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Repairing Wounded Soldiers' Sex Lives




Today, whenever Timothy Brown wants to have sex, he needs to stick a needle in the base of his penis. A former staff sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps*, Brown was severely injured by an improvised explosive device while serving in Iraq in 2012. The explosion tore off both legs and his right arm as well as his testicles and a portion of his penis. Physicians have since made a reconstruction with tissue from the inside of his mouth and skin from part of his right leg, but Brown can only stay erect for short periods of time. If he wants to have sex, he needs to give himself an injection of Trimix, a blood-flow stimulant.


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http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/05/veterans-sex-therapy/482199/

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www.battlingthestormwithin.com

Why do some traumatized people get PTSD while others don't?






A fascinating new article by Virginia Hughes in Nature explores the most recent discoveries that neuroscientists have made about the mechanisms that cause post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The story focuses in part on the story of one woman, a psychotherapist who was raped and then thrown off a bridge, and how she's recovered from PTSD in decades since. Her tale provides the backdrop for what we now know about how our brains are reshaped during traumatic events.

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Toxic exposure in Iraq causes breast cancer



Dr. T. Danielle Russell is proud of her Air Force service. After she returned home, DAV was there for her when she developed cancer.
Dr. T. Danielle Russell is proud of her Air Force service. After she returned home, DAV was there for her when she developed cancer.
She took the vaccines the Air Force prescribed before her deployment. She drank the water the military provided in Iraq. She lived and worked where she was told. Following orders enabled her to survive her tour in Iraq, but she didn’t expect that would also lead to cancer after she returned home.


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Toxic exposure in Iraq causes breast cancer

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Veterans Treatment Courts: A Second Chance for Vets Who Have Lost Their Way

Courts                      
     “This white paper is based on a series of interviews, buttressed by personal observations, of key players in half a dozen jurisdictions where Veterans Treatment Courts have been operating with marked success. Neither graphs nor charts nor a plethora of statistics are employed to illustrate the protocols and practices of these therapeutic courts. Instead, proponents and practitioners intimately involved in the founding and operation of these courts relate how they are “the right thing to do” for combat veterans who commit certain crimes that are associated with the lingering legacy of their wartime experiences. They describe, in often exquisite detail, what their roles are and how they have come to embrace the concept that these courts, which use a carrot-and-stick approach to rehabilitate rather than overtly punish veteran defendants, represent what one of the individuals responsible for the introduction of the first of these diversionary courts has called “the most profound change in the attitude of our criminal justice system towards veterans in the history of this country”


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US Military Sexual Assault Survivors Unfairly Discharged - Video


       
Thousands of United States service members, who lost their military careers after reporting a sexual assault, live with stigmatizing discharge papers that prevent them from getting jobs and benefits.
 Under pressure from the public and Congress, the US military has in recent years implemented some protection for service members who report sexual assault, but nothing has been done to redress the wrongs done to those who were unfairly discharged.


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https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2016/05/19/us-military-sexual-assault-survivors-unfairly-discharged


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 www.battlingthestormwithin.com

Congress OKs Medical Marijuana for Military Veterans






The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives both took action to increase military veterans’ access to medical marijuana on Thursday. By a vote of 89-8, senators approved a bill containing language preventing the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) from spending money to enforce a current policy that prohibits its government doctors from filling out medical marijuana recommendation forms in states where the drug is legal.

Read more http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2016/05/congress-oks-medical-marijuana-for-military-veterans/


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Read more........
http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2016/05/congress-oks-medical-marijuana-for-military-veterans/





How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

















The benefits of mindfulness meditation, increasingly popular in recent years, are supposed to be many: reduced stress and risk for various diseases, improved well-being, a rewired brain. But the experimental bases to support these claims have been few. Supporters of the practice have relied on very small samples of unrepresentative subjects, like isolated Buddhist monks who spend hours meditating every day, or on studies that generally were not randomized and did not include placebo­ control groups.

Read more.......http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/contemplation-therapy/?_r=0

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Why Soldiers Miss War

   
Many soldiers struggle to adjust to civilian life after returning from war. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)
         
Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Martin parked the truck outside the concrete slabs arranged in a defensive perimeter around the tactical operations center at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan.

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http://dailysignal.com/2016/01/06/why-soldiers-miss-war/

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Women Are the Invisible Victims of PTSD


         

Written by Rose Eveleth

There are lots of conversations about the lack of diversity in science and tech these days. But along with them, people constantly ask, “So what? Why does it matter?” There are lots of ways to answer that question, but perhaps the easiest way is this: because a homogenous team produces homogenous products for a very heterogeneous world.

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http://motherboard.vice.com/read/ptsd-isnt-just-for-soldiers

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Military sex assault: Just 4 percent of complaints result in convictions


The military received more than 6,000 reports of sexual assaults last year, but only a small fraction, about 250, led to a court-martial and conviction for a related crime, according to a new Pentagon report.

Released Thursday, the Pentagon’s annual report on military sexual assaults shows that about 4 percent of sexual assault complaints led to a conviction.

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http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2016/05/05/military-sexual-assault-complaints-result-few-convictions/83980218/

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