Sheepdog Tip of the Day, After Combat tip 87
If you have not made peace with the memories, if you have not done a group critical incident debriefing and worked your way through that memory and made peace with it, there is a good possibility it will come back to bite you when you testify in court. You have been fleeing from the memories, refusing to come to terms with them, but in court you cannot avoid them, and the result can be very traumatic. A slick lawyer in a thousand-dollar suit will stand in front of you and conduct a cross examination. But he does not want you to testify, he wants the puppy on the stand. He wants that neural network to activate so that you hyperventilate, your heart pounds, your brow perspires, your voice quivers, and your face turns white and blotchy. Keep in mind that the lawyer has been trained to play head games with you, and he is paid big bucks because he is very good at what he does. He wants to create stress and trauma in your life, and he does it by whistling for the puppy. If he is successful the jury will think you are a liar or, at the least, unreliable. As a warrior you have three goals in life that you strive to accomplish. First and foremost, protect the innocent; second, convict the guilty; and third, draw your retirement. These are three honorable objectives, but now you are confronting a slick lawyer in a shiny suit wanting to prevent you from doing all three by trying his best to spin you down the path of PTSD.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Combat
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Additional Resources
For PTSD, Shepherd Resource Group.