Routines That Restore: Healthy Practices That Support Veterans' Healing
4-minute read
Routines That Restore: Healthy Practices That Support Veterans' Healing
4-minute read
If you’re a Veteran experiencing mental health challenges, starting mental health treatment is a critical first step. But following healthy routines is also important to help you manage symptoms and take more control of your life.
Here’s how treatment and routines have helped Veterans Bill, Connor, and Laura overcome challenges such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance misuse, an eating disorder, and sexual trauma—and how other Veterans can find the routines that work best for them.
Bill: Dog walks and mental health check-ins
Bill, a U.S. Army Veteran, served on the front lines in Vietnam. After his service, he found it difficult to manage the impact of his experiences on his mental health. He smoked, drank heavily, and often couldn’t control his temper.
Counseling, medication, and a 7-week in-patient program for PTSD helped him turn his life around. “I have actually gotten control of the anger issues that I had for quite some time,” he says. “All those times that I’ve spent with them have helped me make peace with just about everybody and everything.”
One of his routines revolves around treatment: Bill continues to meet with his psychologist once a month and his psychiatrist every 3 months. “You are able to say things to them that you don’t say to anybody ever,” he says. “It’s just getting that stuff out helps.”
Another one of Bill’s routines is walking his dog every day. “It’s when I have time to clear things from my mind,” he says. “I feel better when I’m out there, especially if I'm walking around lakes. I can hear the ducks. I can literally hear the fish and the water, and everything just seems to calm me down.”
Connor: Breathing, meditating, and martial arts
Connor, a U.S. Air Force Veteran, says he tried to bury his feelings after experiencing the realities of war in Afghanistan. But that didn’t help heal what he describes as his mental scars.
“I was having troubles just relaxing all the time. I was short-tempered and I just wasn’t myself,” he says. He often woke up in the night, feeling on edge. Hearing loud noises while driving would bring back the feeling of shots being fired at him or an IED exploding.
For the sake of his loved ones, he started meeting with VA counselors. “I’d tell them the things that were happening to me about my sleep and my short temper, and they kind of explained to me why I was feeling these ways,” he says.
Some techniques he learned in therapy have become part of his routine. “My coping mechanisms that I learned through dealing with PTSD and stress, my breathing and meditating, I go back to those whenever I start feeling high sets of stress just to calm myself down,” he says.
Connor also found a consistent source of support by joining a martial arts community. “Martial arts was a huge help to me as a tool to use that I can always rely on and go back to,” he says. Now he tries to help other Veterans with PTSD by giving them martial arts training for free.
Laura: Running
Laura, a U.S. Navy Veteran, started seeing a therapist not long after leaving the military because her husband suggested it. “He’d been seeing therapists his whole life. And I think he just knew that I could probably use a little bit of support. And I just knew he was right,” she says.
As a teenager, Laura experienced challenges with an eating disorder, alcohol misuse, and trauma. “I was bulimic and wound up not eating, drinking a lot to the point of blacking out on a regular basis, and woke up in one instance where I was being raped by two young guys,” she says. Laura carried her unresolved traumas and unhealthy coping behaviors into her Navy service and beyond.
In therapy, Laura was diagnosed with PTSD. An intensive therapy session for women at her local VA medical center became a turning point. “That was really eye-opening to me because while I was the only person there that had sexual trauma from outside of the military, my issues were very similar to those people,” she says.
Laura learned how to respond to her fears and triggers with logic instead of solely with emotion. She also uncovered the roots of her bulimia, which she thought was giving her control of the things around her even though it was doing the opposite. “These days I've found this really healthy balance of having control, but not needing to have control all the time,” she says.
Laura continues with her therapy, and she found a positive routine in running. “Running is one of the things that has helped me get through and outside of my eating disorder,” she says. “Any type of physical activity someone can do teamed with a good therapy practice, you’re just setting yourself up for success.”
Find your healthy routines
Are you a Veteran looking for healthy routines? Here are some ways to find routines that work for you.
- Identify your needs. Think about areas of your life that feel stressful or disorganized, such as sleeping, eating, or exercising. Create routines that address those areas.
- Choose what matters most. Focus on routines that support your health and well-being, such as those that involve self-care, social connection, or activities you enjoy.
- Start with your strengths. Build routines around things you already do well. Slowly add new activities to make it easier to stick with your routine.
- Consider your schedule. Pick routines that fit your daily life and responsibilities, so you don’t feel pressured or overwhelmed.
- Listen to your feelings. Pay attention to how different routines make you feel. Make changes to find what works best for you.
