An issue many female veterans and spouses of veterans struggle with is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Angel Lopez, a veteran, dependent and spouse, said she struggled with PTSD and sexual abuse while in the military.
“When a situation happens, we keep it internally. We don’t want to share because again we feel ashamed that we are put in this situation. We blame ourselves a lot,” said Lopez.
Lopez works for Vetstar, an organization that provides support to military veterans. Through this organization, she has helped women overcome issues of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and military sexual trauma (MST). She said the road was not easy.
“Short term can be just neglecting yourself, overeating, drinking, using prescription drugs or street drugs. Long term, it can lead to divorce, isolation. It can lead to not believing in yourself,” said Lopez.
Col. Dave Lewis, a retired Air Force veteran who works at Texas Tech University, said the biggest obstacle for women is overcoming their isolation.
“The problem we see with our woman veterans is they tend to isolate more so than our male veterans do,” said Lewis.
Lewis said there are many resources women can utilize, such as Veteran Affairs, support organizations like Vetstar and Task Force Lubbock. They do not have to suffer alone.
“Tragically, we have lost way too many to suicide because they thought there was only one way out,” said Lewis.
Through helping other women find resources and talk about their experiences, it helped Lopez recover.
“Working with the vet center, seeing my counselor, helping other women understand MST, PTSD, depression, anxiety and sobriety, has brought me more healing than doing it by myself,” she said.
Vetstar and New Hope Foursquare Church organized a women’s support group for any female veterans to “share their frustrations, blessings, unhappiness, joy, sorrows, triumphs, disappointments, and satisfactions. The group will help women to talk and share about their experiences while understanding they are not alone in this battle against PTS, TBI, depression, anxiety, fatigue, caregiving and death by suicide.”
It starts at at 7 p.m. Monday, July 30, and lasts until February 4, 2019. It will be at 10701 Indiana Avenue.
Go to vetstar.org for information on how to sign up.
