Family is the best medicine

Holding out hope for someone who may not be able to carry it for themselves.

This is something that we as peer supporters often do for those we speak with. What about our family? Our family is who we NEED to have hope for us, and who will be the ones to carry us through the dark days.

When someone is injured in any way, be it physically or psychologically, we know the family carries much of the weight in the recovery process. For a psychological injury it isn't as obvious what our families can do for us, yet what you do is so important.

You maintain the hope that we will recover and encourage us to keep seeking out the kind of help that resonates with us. Maybe that means that we need to see a different professional, need help in actually "leaving" the house or encouragement to eat or to eat better, drink less or not use anything that would be harmful.

We need a reason to heal when despair is at its worst and we think we will never recover. At first this is because we are trying to get back to who we were, not understanding that the person we were isn't the person we need to be any longer. It's something we learn through time and healing, not something we can be told. Once we stop trying to go back in time, we need your patience and support to not try to be who we were in the past, but rather the better person we are evolving into because of our recovery.

There can also be a profound amount of anxiety involved with panic attacks that are horrible to go through and awful to witness. We may not notice symptoms decreasing over time, or lessening in intensity but maybe you as our family might. When you notice any improvements, it is so important to let us know. The change we are striving toward is happening with each and every effort we make to heal and your acknowledgement not only validates our efforts but also helps give us strength to keep going. When you are there to remind us of how we were 1 month ago, or 6 months ago, you help us to know that you see the positive changes we have made as a result of our hard work.

That ability to lend perspective when we don't have it is such a gift and is the most important thing you can often do for someone with an OSI.

Your positive feedback is important! When our efforts are acknowledged, we feel empowered to continue to strive toward recovery.

Our Family and Friend group’s target demographic:

The spouses/partners, family members and close friends of former and serving members of: the Canadian Armed Forces, Allied Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Frontline Protectors --- which include Municipal Police Services, CN Police Services, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Protection Services, Wildland Firefighters, Hospital Trauma personnel, Nurses, Social Workers, Animal Control Officers, Coroners, Indigenous Emergency Management, Victim Services Personnel, Emergency Communications Specialists, Corrections Officers, “Volunteer” First Responders, Conservation Officers, Aboriginal Emergency Services personnel, and Tow Truck drivers who clean up accident. This demographic was chosen due to the commonality of experiences they share through the service they provide to the country and community.

We have a special interest and support volunteer first responders as they are often not eligible for programs such as Workers' Compensation.

Are those with an OSI/PTSD the only ones who need support?

Family & Friends need support too

Being the caregiver or support for someone with OSI sometimes means facing battles of your own. Feelings of isolation, lack of support or understanding are common traits often shared among family members. Just as it is important for the person with OSI/PTSD to receive the supports they need to heal, it is equally important for those in a caregiver role to also receive support and resources.

We often hear caregivers say they are not the ones who need support, it is the person with the OSI/PTSD who does. When someone in the family has an injury, the entire family is affected and therefore may need support of their own. Sometimes it's about taking care of yourself so that you have the capacity to help them take care of themselves. We are not suggesting you get help instead of them, however, if they are not yet ready to reach out for support, it may be necessary for you to gain these skills for your own well-being in the hopes they do reach out.

The role of the caregiver is not a singular role as it would be in a clinical setting. The caregiver is also potentially a parent, financial earner, has a home to take care of, and is part of a team when their partner is injured. Even if life before your partner was injured came with fewer points of stress, that has probably changed and responsibilities that were once shared may now be yours alone. That is its own type of stress and comes with understandable struggles.

Getting help for yourself as you help someone else allows you to have the resiliency to withstand the challenges you will all face together as you move through recovery. In recovery, your partner will most likely be able to take back some, all, or different responsibilities as they are healing. However, since this is a time of challenge for EVERYONE involved it is in everyone's best interest (partners, children, teens, family, close friends) to seek out whatever support is right for them whether they have PTSD or not.

Now just to be clear, it is important when considering your own health as a Caregiver, to understand what the other person is going through. OSI/PTSI can occur when a person directly experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. It can also happen with repeated exposure to traumatic events and details as with OSICAN’s target group; military, first responders, 911 dispatchers, corrections, tow truck drivers, and all public safety personnel. But while that person is going through an OSI like PTSD, you as a caregiver cannot ignore what you need as it is just as important for both of your recoveries.

“The spouse or partner of the person with OSI (Operational Stress Injury) is usually the first one to notice a difference in their behavior or changes in attitude. It is important for them to understand what their loved one is going through, of course, but the most important is for them to get the support they need. This has been a huge missing piece so far. We help give the tools necessary for the self-care they need while being of assistance in the recovery of their loved ones with OSI.”

– Julius Brown, Provincial Director for OSI-CAN

We offer understanding, hope, knowledge, strength and encouragement.

For Further Detail:

Read up on PTSD or OSI in the OSI-CAN Manual

Our family and friend group’s target demographic:

The spouses/partners, family members and close friends of former and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Allied Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Frontline Protectors --- which include Municipal Police Services, CN Police Services, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Protection Services, Wildland Firefighters, Hospital Trauma personnel, Nurses, Social Workers, Animal Control Officers, Coroners, Indigenous Emergency Management, Victim Services Personnel, Emergency Communications Specialist, Corrections Officers, “Volunteer” First Responders, Conservation Officers, Aboriginal Emergency Services personnel, Tow Truck drivers who clean up accident scenes and their spouses/partners. This demographic was chosen due to the commonality of experiences they share through the service they provide to the country and community. We have a special interest and support volunteer first responders as they are not eligible for programs such as Workers' Compensation.

Leave the Diagnosis to the Doctor

For people who experience a psychological injury like PTSD, there is a need to figure out exactly where it stems from. The thought is usually that if we can figure out the WHY of the injury, we can figure out the HOW of fixing it.

Unfortunately, we don’t always get it right and that could prove harmful in many ways. Let’s consider for a second a common physical injury like a twisted ankle. We can know how it happened if pain is immediate and sometimes, we can fix it on our own, and sometimes we need professionals to figure out the exact nature of the injury such as: are the muscles just pulled or are they detached? Are the bones intact? This is what determines the best course of rehabilitation. Simply having a “sore ankle” could mean a lot of different things.

Now consider that analogy to the psychological injury. If we decide that our injury MUST HAVE come from something recent or a major event in the distant past, we focus our efforts in recovery on that. But what if its deeper or more varied than that? Or maybe what you are attaching your symptoms to was the most recent trauma, but not what is actually the cause of what you are now going through? The thing is we don’t “know” which is why we need to involve people that can help us to figure that out. We need to involve our doctor and mental health professionals the same way we would go to the hospital and see the proper type of physician for the nature of a physical injury.

Making a self-proclaimed diagnosis or decision as to the cause of our injury can have significant impact on the type of treatment we receive and what types of care we are eligible for.

Presumptive Legislation is there so that the working “presumption” stemming from a diagnosis of PTSD is that it is related to your work unless proven otherwise. It is important to remember that if we, in the heat of crisis and injury declare the injury caused by what is essentially a best guess, it may affect what types of treatment initially recommended by our doctors, the types of care, and how we reduce our exposure to what is causing us harm. The answer to what is causing this and what we need are not generally straightforward. Often it's the exposure to multiple potentially traumatic events that cause PTSD in our professions and not a single incident. This could mean there are many layers that need to be worked on to help us recover. If you make a statement as to the cause of the injury prior to your work with a psychologist, that statement can lead to denials if a WCB claim is initiated. A potential reason for denial would then be information on record counter to what you discover in treatment. This is why there is legislation in place, so that in the moment of psychological crisis, you are given the time and resources to heal. To explore with your psychologist or psychiatrist what you are going through and your treatment options before having to come up with answers.

In taking time to heal and understand without committing yourself to the cause of the injury, it's sometimes the best and only gift the present YOU can give to your future YOU. To not go down the rabbit hole by trying to figure it out alone and potentially deny yourself the resources you need to heal. This is where the insight of the doctor aids in your recovery.

For Further Detail:

Our target demographic: The target demographic of OSI-CAN are but are not limited to: former and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Allied Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Frontline Protectors --- which include Municipal Police Services, CN Police Services, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Protection Services, Wildland Firefighters, Hospital Trauma personnel, Nurses, Social Workers, Animal Control Officers, Coroners, Indigenous Emergency Management, Victim Services Personnel, Emergency Communications Specialist, Corrections Officers, “Volunteer” First Responders, Conservation Officers, Aboriginal Emergency Services personnel, Tow Truck drivers who clean up accident scenes and their spouses/partners. This demographic was chosen due to the commonality of experiences they share through the service they provide to the country and community. We have a special interest and support volunteer first responders as they are not eligible for programs such as Workers' Compensation.