BEAUMONT, Texas — Mental health experts are encouraging those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to seek treatment because the longer someone waits, the worse it could get.
June is PTSD Awareness Month.
There are people throughout Southeast Texas and beyond who are or know a veteran that served their country for years. Some veterans during their service develop trauma known as PTSD.
Robert Jones is one of those veterans and an ambassador for K9s for Warriors.
“Our veterans suffered from shellshock or battle fatigue, and it finally became PTSD,” Jones said.
Jones served in the army for 28 years. He climbed the ladder to earn the rank sergeant first class.
Those suffer from PTSD can have feelings of anxiety, panic, depression or even anger. It is something that can be hard to understand for those that do not have it.
Jones believes the way PTSD is treated has changed for the better over the years.
“And it was just something that was accepted, not something that was really addressed,” Jones said.
Jones feels those who suffer from PTSD have more options now than in the past, like service dogs. Jones said his service dog, Grace, saved him.
“She will just lean against me, and it's enough of a touch to just let me know that I've been triggered, and I can't replace that with anything else,” Jones said. “There's nothing else that I've come across that would break me out of those episodes so quickly.”
Jones was paired with Grace through a program called K9s for Warriors, a nonprofit that provides service dogs to any military veteran suffering from PTSD, a brain injury and/or military trauma free of cost.
“They are there to ensure that you're grasping what a service dog would do for, but they're also at the same time trying to push you back out into society,” Jones said. “Trying to get you to reengage in society and a service dog does that.”
Texas has the second largest veterans population in the country, according to Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. Mental health experts said both treatment and family support can be a huge help to anyone reliving fear from past trauma.
“Reminding them of who you are, and who they are, and where they are, and when they are, and that this is safe even though that past time and location was not safe,” Dr. Kaki York, clinical health psychologist, said.
There are many options for treatment including psychotherapy, family therapy, prescribed medication, vocational and educational support, support animal and wildlife rescues.
Those thinking about getting a service dog to cope with PTSD can visit k9sforwarriors.org.
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