Setting the record straight and The Nor Cal HOW Board of Directors

Don,

Your doing a wonderful thing for vets. Unfortunately there is a lot of bureaucracy involved behind the scenes that none of us realize, and you have to deal with. So in my opinion you should not have to explain yourself, though in doing so you show all of us your true integrity.

Being an Iraqi war vet I can't express how much I appreciate things like this. HOW did not introduce me to kayak fishing, kayak fishing introduced me to HOW, so I went about it backwards. I can't help to think how many of my friends would still be here, mentally and physically, if they could of been introduced to programs like HOW. It is sad to watch someone slowly loose their mind because reality for them has just stopped because of the things that happen in war.

When I came back I wanted to be treated like a normal person. I wanted something to help me forget. Unfortunately I did what most do, and drank heavily. I can say from personal experience that fishing keeps me from slowly loosing my mind, I may not forget but at least I can move on.

So regardless of what people say, what you do not matter how small helps.

I may not have all the money or time in the world, but let me know what I can do to help.

Ryan

Thanks Ryan...

  You could not have put it any more on point of why this program and ones like it are so important...

and we need more...  you and your friends are not getting the help you all need...

Living for months if not years under the pressure of every moment being your last... the kid walking up to you with flowers and candy,

maybe exploding...

Being in a firefight for 3 hours and after the bad guys are knocked down... looking over the bodies, and realizing some of your targets were women and children....

Awful stuff war is.... and it's so easy for our society to just move on and forget.... 

but our troops we sent there to fight for us.... they are not forgetting anything and at a ever diligence stance to be ready to act...

It's exhausting, it's debilitating and it's not necessary anymore...  but that switch is hard to turn off...

You have discovered that Kayakfishing, is one way to start to diffuse that bomb inside....  it's not everything, but it's a start...

and we also offer here at ncka, a whole different way to integrate back into society...  never ending possibilities for outings and things to be interested in...

I'm no professional... I just wanted to help out for a day, but the more I learned about what you guys are going through, and how much is not being addressed or supported, and the list goes on and on... we have a new enemy ( and not so new ) on the home front...

it's called PTSD... it's killing thousands... Military, Police, Firefighters and more,

 and were just starting to kick this door open and recognize it... 

it does not fit the He-Man macho image that got us into this line of work in the first place, and that is part of the problem of getting help, who wants to admit they have a problem...

I have had deep conversations with Majors, Commanders, SGM, Chaplins,,, pretty heavy stuff, they have to keep it together they say, for their men, but one day they say they will start crying and never stop...

These men and women are out there with us, on the road, in the grocery store, ready to explode, needing help...

I have witnessed some pretty awful stuff with our troops coming home, and has been a huge motivation in pushing HOW Forward...

 what were doing here is on a very small scale, but it's a start, and we are not saving the world with kayakfishing,

 but we are turning the tide...

All I know for sure is, this works, makes everyone involved feel good and I like having these people on our team and in our sport....

and yes the Bureaucracy is crazy, but it also gives me strength....  makes me realize what a vet in trouble must be going through just to get the help he needs and is entitled too.

I think we are on the brink of getting some real support for HOW and connections that should put us in the main stream with the other vet orgs.

more to come on this later as I'm doing much behind the scenes right now...

 stay tuned...  and thanks for everyone helping out with HOW     

Don,

I too commend you for your efforts.

I have been MIA for awhile, caught up in issues regarding my practice, as well as spending more time up at Lake Almanor.  But when I checked in this morning I read this thread with interest.

I just returned from a three day psychiatric update conference which featured  talks on PTSD and 6 hours devoted to research, as well as advice on the management of suicidality.  One of the speakers, M. David Rudd, Ph.D., ABPP was a truly impressive speaker.  He is former military and has directed much of his professional career and research focused on suicidality/prevention, as well as the suicide risk in Vets and is in the forefront of researching ways to mitigate the development of PTSD, especially in combat vets.

Check out his CV:

M. David Rudd is Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Utah and scientific director for the National Center for Veterans Studies at the U. His undergraduate degree is from Princeton University. He completed his doctoral training at the University of Texas-Austin and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cognitive therapy at the Beck Institute in Philadelphia under the direction of Aaron T. Beck. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and a Fellow of three professional societies, including the American Psychological Association (Division 12 and Division 29), the International Association of Suicide Research, and the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (a founding fellow). He was recently elected a Distinguished Practitioner and Scholar of the National Academies of Practice in Psychology. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Rudd is an active researcher with over 170 publications. He is currently conducting a $1.97 million clinical trial for suicidal soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado. He has authored several books, including
Treating Suicidal Behavior (2001, Guilford, 2nd printing in 2004) and Suicide Science: Expanding the Boundaries (2001, Kluwer Academic Publishers), The Assessment and Management of Suicidality: A Pocket Guide (Professional Resource Press, 2006) and the recently released The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (with Joiner, VanOrden, & Witte) from the American Psychological Association Press. His research has been recognized with awards both national and international.  He has served as a consultant to many organizations nationally and internationally, including the United States Air Force, the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense and the Beijing Suicide Prevention and Research Center. Dr. Rudd serves on a number of editorial boards, is past Chair of the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, past President of the Texas Psychological Association, past President of Division 12 Section VII of the American Psychological Association, past Past-President of the American Association of Suicidology, a previous members of the APA Council of Representatives, and currently serves as vice-president of the PDV Foundation. Dr. Rudd has testified four times before the U.S. Congress, both House and Senate, on issues related to veterans and suicide.
Past-President of the American Association of Suicidology

Suicide is not a comfortable subject for anyone, including mental health professionals.  I could feel the tension welling up within myself and in those around me as we moved through this material.  Yet it is important to have some awareness and preparation because a person with PTSD may enter a time of heightened risk and he doesn't need your fear, but rather your steadfast presence through the crises.

Having spent a good deal of my residency treating acutely decompensated Viet Nam Vets, and having spent the majority of my ten years in overseas relief work, leading medical teams treating refugees from the Cambodian war, I am aware of how intense, and even frightening it can be to work with those suffering the effects of such profound trauma.  Those extending support can find themselves, at times, overwhelmed as they vicariously experience intense emotion and pain. Nothing in normal life prepares you to extend such support to a friend.

I know that some of you are former vets, and obviously, those participating in HOW events have a commitment to helping our wounded warriors. I am nearly twenty years away from my intense exposure to combat trauma, but this conference was a reminder of it for me.  I thought to make some of you , especially those who are leading this effort, and those of you who may befriend vets troubled by PTSD, aware of Dr. Rudd's work. (Included a short clip from YouTube.)

I have not had the opportunity to research available resources from Dr. Rudd. He has developed tools to help those in the public sector to assess risk.  I know he's just written a book on suicide management for primary care doctors.  Presumably, then, this is written at the level that a broader audience might benefit from reading.  I am sure he also has developed material regarding PTSD.  I’m sure googling him would redirect you to other potential useful links.

I can't help to think how many of my friends would still be here, mentally and physically, if they could of been introduced to programs like HOW. It is sad to watch someone slowly loose their mind because reality for them has just stopped because of the things that happen in war

Perhaps for some, kayak fishing can be the spark that ignites a new reality:  It can be an opportunity to reexperience unit cohesion, and cooperation in targeting a common goal; freely choosing to encounter risk, while making joint risk assessments and practicing contingency planning and risk mitigation--covering each other's back; and carrying out and completing an operation--all within the context of friendship, fun and relaxation.  A growing, new reality founded on learning and reinforcing new behaviors and healing neural networks: What a novel experience!

Doug

   I'm grateful and honored to be in the company of people like you.   People who are not afraid to step up to the plate. 
Thank you all.          I hope that one day soon I can be in a position to help out.     My son, currently in Afganistan, has already served two tours in Iraq.   

   

H.O.W. is an amazing outlet for guys like me. I suffer from P.T.S.D. and was diagnosed with it back in the late 1980's. It has been a battle  for me and the rewards of hard work have paid off for myself and my family. I can personally profess that anyone like myself feels a great connection to other Combat Veterans, First Reasponders and those who reach out to help. Having served my tour in Veit Nam as a combat medic and then as a cop on the streets has had a profound impact on my mental outlook .
 Our volunteers that we have are in action and not sitting on the sidelines professing they would do this or that like some couch quarterback. I suspect those of you who have questioned our intent do not volunteer. I guess I should not be surprised because it is exactly these troops and first responders who fight for your right to have your opinions in the first place.
I am not a P.C. kind of guy and I am turning 60 this week so I will speck my mind, Why not I fought for it!
Don, you and our other volunteers have done for our vets things that I think will stay with them for the remainder of their lives. And that's making a difference.
Doug, Thanks for you professional input . Anyone who has P.T.S.D. should get professional help and not say stupid things like I have read," this board is all the therapy I need". Such remarks make light of P.T.S.D. Try being in combat for just one day or on the streets helping the critical who fight you all the way.
Baitman, Thank your son for me. I can be proud of him without knowing him. That also goes for anyone of you who has family member serving here or abroad.
The rest of you put your bitch en ways to something positive and come out and help. Put away the party attitude for one or two days and give back.
A proud member of H.O.W. Frankfishing

PS. This was edited by my Wife who suggested I make a few changes

Thanks for all you do for the vets Don. You are a class act. When I see you on the water with your family I smile. One of these days ill get off my lazy azz and get out there.