On Recovering Without PTSD

(CBS)  What does it take to recover from a traumatic war injury? CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier knows the answer firsthand. In fact, she's now written a book about it.

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About two years ago, I died on the operating table - technically, a few times.

My camera crew, Paul Douglas and James Brolan, and a young army captain we were following, lost their lives, as did an Iraqi translator, killed by a massive car bomb.

One of the hardest parts of healing, I've since learned, wasn't learning to walk or run again - it's been catching everyone else up with the journey from victim, to survivor.

I can't really blame them.

These pictures of me create a lasting impression, so loved ones and coworkers have had a hard time knowing when to stop coddling me. If you've ever had a trauma victim in your family, you know what I mean.

Doctors have found the key to recovery is attitude, from the moment you open your eyes in that hospital bed.

A Navy Seal put it best, in a note he posted on his Bethesda Naval hospital door. It read: "I'll have a full recovery - that's the utmost physically my body has the ability to heal. Then I will push about 20 percent further, through sheer mental tenacity. If you're not prepared for that, go elsewhere."

In other words, leave your pity at the door.

I think the other assumption some people have about trauma patients, and combat troops, is that we're scarred for life in our heads and hearts. Even some friends assume I'm plagued by nightmares and flashbacks, all the symptoms of the dreaded post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Newsflash: You can go through hell and end up with some of those symptoms, yes, but you can get rid of them. It's not a life sentence.

Dispelling the flashbacks for good can be as simple as talking about them, saying out loud, "Yeah, that shooting/bombing/car crash gave me some nightmares. I keep remembering it, feeling the blast like it's happening now."

When people who are haunted by these things DON'T talk about them, that's when the problems start.

How did I avoid getting PTSD? I talked my head off, and then I wrote everything I could remember.

Whatever works.

Even if you went through hell, trust me, you can leave it behind. I'm living proof.

(Meredith Books)

For information on Kimberly Dozier's "Breathing the Fire," visit the Web site of Kimberly Dozier.

[DCJerseygrl]

As an Ovarian cancer survivor, I agree 100% with Kimberly Dozier.
I should have died two years ago, according to the general medical community.
Most doctors I was referred to treated me as if I was on death's door. However, I refused to bend to the standard way of thinking in regards to cancer and I walked unaided out of the hospital 48 hours after undergoing a radical hysterectomy. I was on a plane to Hawaii in less than two weeks, again, something everyone told me I could not do. I'm very proud of my 8 inch abdominal scar and I look & feel like a rock star. I hope everyone reads 'Breathing the Fire.' I bought it yesterday and can't put it down.

[riverrat6568]

Hey Kimberly do you have any idea how many psychiatrist are in the entire VA system? There are only 350 to treat all of us. What a joke. Of course the Doctors and Commandeers(probably the same commander that told us just get to the top of that hill no problem, wonder why they called it Hamburger hill think it was the river of blood)encouraged you they would love for all this PTSD to just go away. Why don''t you do a story on the inadequate mental health care we have to put up with.

[riverrat6568]

hey Kimberly next time ya got diarrhea just apply some of that will power you got maybe that will go away too. It''s going on 2am here so I''ll just do my meds(including 200mgs of seroguel)and hopefully I can get a couple hrs. sleep without a nightmare(I''ll probably be ok as long as a helicopter doesn''t fly over the older I get the harder it is to get under the bed). As a disabled Vietnam Vet (1965 to 1968) It''s amazing I''m still whining about this imaginary thing called PTSD. Guess I ought give back some of those combat ribbons and Presidential citations. After all these years it''s amazing you could clear it up so easily. I owe ya maybe I''ll sleep tonight. So thankyou so much. Dennis

[riverrat6568]

Hey Kimberly since your doing so good when ya headin back to Irag? Careful though you might want to put your flak jacket on backwards I gotta a feeling your the next best thing to a west point 1st louie. *** am I stupid I thought those dreams about hamburger hill meant something. I told my VA shrink today I was going off all my meds. He asked why? I told him you said on TV there is no such thing as PTSD and we all know if it was on TV it''s gotta be true. Buy a winch you might need one to get your foot outa your mouth when PTSD creeps up on you in 15-20 yrs. like it did to me.

[sf18b1]

How dare you. You really should have done some research on this, cause you sounded as dumb as a box of rock''s. To assume that because you had one instance as a soldier you know just what it''s like , and how to handle it and get over PTSD is one of the most ignorant thing''s I have ever heard. You did''nt spend a year or more in a war-zone as a soldier. You''re not a soldier, you do not spend day in and day out living the life of a soldier. It would be like getting in a car accident , and thinking you know what it''s like to be a race car driver, and all that come''s with it. YOU DO NOT!!!! I think you owe every soldier in America an apology.

[prausek]

Don''t you realize that you are the lucky one, the chosen one, the one who has supportive family that can sit by your side while you heal. The rest of us had crappy childhoods and our families have to work all day in other states and can''t sit by our sides while we recover. Don''t ever say again that anyone can avoid PTST just because you did. You should say anyone with my charmed life can recover without PTSD. I was enjoying your piece and was proud of you and your accomplishments, until the end statement when you made me want to throw my breakfast at you. I will never read your book now.

[sundog71]

That was just 2 years ago. I am once again on the upswing, my life has stabilized, but now I carry the knowledge that its always there. Its not that I spend every day depressed and dwelling on it, though some people do. But I know now that I have be a little more consciencious about my condition. And I have to be more understanding of people around me who are not going to reciprocate that understanding. I wouldnt wish this on anyone. I never got over this stuff, I just learned to live around it. Most of the time I am productive and happy. Most of the time. I have left hell behind many times. Its not always obvious at first when you return. Like boiling a frog, the incremental increase in stress isnt enough to always tip you off before the flames are licking at your heels.

[sundog71]

You know back in the 70s, I was encouraged to talk my head off. It helped a little. But it didnt prevent PTSD from being triggered later in life. In fact, being encouraged to believe that talking would make it go away, left me ultimately unprepared for that time that would arrive.

When it did finally strike full force, I was compelled to re-evaluate everything. It forced me to acknowledge that I had had many smaller encounters. But the feelings of helplessness that followed the bigger ones left me feeling full of guilt. Like somehow I was weak and had lied to myself in some toxic manner. I hadnt. Honestly I didnt know enough to lie. But I believed a lie and operated under the assumption it was truth.
And that left me without the necessary coping skills as well as a social support system when the time came that I needed them. Then there was no one to talk to. And no one to understand. Just long time friends calling me crazy and cutting me off because they could not relate to my experiences or inner turmoil. It was a most hurtful and isolating time.

[nanson32346]

Dear "KD": Here''s a clue. Talking won''t make it go away. It just hides the symptoms temporarily. Like I said before - your day will come. THEN maybe you''ll understand!

[nanson32346]

Ms Dozier makes light of PTSD. She says that just by "talking about" the trauma, PTSD will miraculously go away. I have 2 words for her - JUST WAIT! Wait for five, ten, or twenty years. And then a sound, or an odor, or a sight can TRIGGER the horror, and then nightmares, flashbacks, and fear will be all too real again. Please understand - I don''t wish it on her. It''s just the nature, and reality, of the beast. Ms Dozier, please stop belittling PTSD and the people who suffer from it. Because your day is coming.