Since posting a blog post on managing anger, we've gotten a pretty big response from vets who've been battling a short fuse - and we've heard from a few who find themselves lashing out at their significant other upon waking up from a nightmare. I recently answered a fellow vet dealing with this, so I thought I'd pass the tips on to you. Just to clarify, these tips are for lashing out because of emotional...    Read This Post

Welcome to Connect & Prevail, The Vets Prevail Newsletter. It's a monthly update to let you know what's new here at Vets Prevail as we work to provide Veterans with tools to build resiliency and thrive during reintegration to civilian life.  This month, we've been hard at work on some great new features for www.vetsprevail.com, including new chapters for the Vets Prevail Training focused on the impact of deployment on the family. We're excited for...    Read This Post

One thing that comes up again and again (and again) when working with returning Veterans is the idea that civilians just don't - and can't - know what it's like. Leaving your family behind. Seeing buddies, guys you'd just joked around with that morning, killed - and why wasn't it you? Returning home a different person - a person who is empty, or numb, or angry, a person who can't seem to fall asleep -...    Read This Post

My son, who’s 7, has recently been having problems at school, fighting mostly.  However, Thursday I got a disturbing phone call from my wife.  Apparently, he told a classmate he was going to “kill himself”.  The other boy was scared, and of course told his parents who, in turn, called the school.  The social worker at the school called my wife and informed her of the situation. The first thing I thought was, “god, what...    Read This Post

You had a battle buddy in combat. Someone who had  your back while you had theirs. In intense situations, when you checked to make sure you were okay, you checked that your buddy was okay, too. It was good to know that someone was looking out for you - and that you, in turn, were helping to keep your fellow troops safe.   But now that you're home, how come you don't have a battle buddy...    Read This Post

Hey Vets Prevailers - Just wanted to give you a quick heads-up about some of the scholarships and loan programs out there for members of the military community and their families. With tuition continuously on the rise, it's getting harder and harder to pay for a college education. Luckily, there are several options out there to ease the burden for troops and vets - and we've highlighted a few for you. But now's the time to...    Read This Post

Things that would have rolled off your shoulders before your deployment now make you blow up. Everyone moves too slowly. No one works hard enough or does the job right. You snap at your kids at the drop of a hat. Anger is common among returning veterans, especially those already dealing with other symptoms of combat stress. The good news is that this is normal. Anger among Vets is often a reaction to the arousal...    Read This Post

This information was sent to me yesterday, and I thought I'd pass it along to you. I know we have a lot of military parents around here - in fact, we've had some discussion on our forums lately about raising kids in the military. So, for all you parents, nominations for the 2010 Military Child Award close February 25th - next Thursday! If you're not familiar with the Military Child Award, it's an award presented...    Read This Post

To this day, if someone in my family dies from natural causes, I think they’re lucky. I’m definitely the wrong guy to come to for sympathy when it comes to that.  Why is it sad that someone older who lived a full life passed away peacefully in their bed? What’s truly sad is when a young person is killed violently before they had a chance to live. I am never going to shed a tear...    Read This Post

I came across this article the other day: Killing in Iraq Combat Linked with PTSD, alcohol abuse, other problems . This just seemed so obvious to me - the painful, forehead slapping, 'This Just In: Rain Causes Wetness' kind of obviousness. But another article about the same study caught my eye: More Veterans May Be Helped By Talking About Killing. It made the point that while killing clearly plays a central role in warfare, it's...    Read This Post