Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month
Nobody likes to live with nightmares, severe anxiety, depression, confusion, flashbacks, night sweats, and/or thoughts of suicide that can be likely caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
It is a dark time in their lives for those who suffer from PTSD, which can be described as a mental health condition. It can be triggered after they experienced extreme trauma, had a life-threatening event, or witnessed a horrific situation such as a shooting or an automobile accident in which someone died.
A person with PTSD will suffer symptoms of not normally thinking, is probably hyper-vigilant, has a short fuse, may not be sleeping well because of nightmares, and could even be self-medicating. They may also be making such efforts to avoid a similar situation and feel as if they aren’t doing their job properly or dealing with life in general.
Unknown to most, PTSD usually develops in the first six months after trauma. However, in some people, symptoms may take years to develop, and this is called delayed-onset PTSD. This makes up less than one in five cases and there is no difference in the symptoms of PTSD and delayed-onset PTSD.
Complex PTSD is not the same as PTSD, and the treatment options are different. Complex PTSD describes personality changes people experience after ongoing trauma, such as abuse. They may include finding it hard to relate to other people, the feeling hopeless and they may have difficulty trusting others.
According to researchers, there may be some overlap between complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder (BPD). People with complex PTSD may benefit from treatments that work for people with BPD. People with BPD need to consult with their medical professional to determine if they suffer from PTSD or BPD.
Just some of the symptoms people suffering from BPD exhibit include extreme reactions to feeling abandoned; unstable relationships with others; confused feelings about who they are; and being impulsive in ways that could be damaging. For example, spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating; regular self-harming, suicidal threats or behavior; long-lasting feelings of emptiness or being abandoned; difficulty controlling your anger; highly changeable moods; and paranoid thoughts when you’re stressed.
The problem is most people think of PTSD only relates to military combat veterans and are the only ones who suffer from it; that can no further from the truth.
Granted, veterans are highly likely to experience PTSD, especially those who have served combat tours of duty. It is conservatively estimated that 30 percent of Vietnam War veterans, 10 percent of Gulf War veterans, and 14 percent of Iraq War veterans suffer from PTSD.
Another group of professionals who suffer from PTSD are members of the law enforcement community. There are approximately 900,000 sworn officers in the U.S. and some studies have concluded as many as 19 percent of them may have PTSD. Other studies have suggested that the percentage is much higher, at 34 percent, and they may suffer symptoms associated with PTSD, but do not meet the standards for the full diagnosis.
Just in the U.S., 6.8 percent of all adults will experience PTSD in their lifetimes with women twice as likely as men to experience it, frequently because of sexual trauma or abuse.
Susannah Pitman, is an acupuncturist who operates Balance Acupuncture Center in Boonton, New Jersey, a writer, the founder of the Facebook group called Peace with PTSD, and the author of “Peace with Trees.” She has lived with PTSD since 1997 after witnessing a horrific accident that took her father’s life. According to her, she believes there are five most common misconceptions about PTSD. They are PTSD is simply stress after a trauma; people with PTSD are unstable and dangerous; a life with PTSD is all doom and gloom; PTSD is a veteran’s problem; and last but not least, PTSD isn’t real and people should just “get over it.”
June is PTSD Awareness Month. This month, government agencies and organizations work with employees, consumers, and patients at risk for the condition. They disseminate information about symptoms and treatments for it to the public in the hopes that when more people know about the disease, more people who suffer from PTSD will seek treatment.
Many government agencies, including the Veterans Administration, offer one-on-one counseling, and group therapy classes and they have crisis hotlines people can call if they are suffering from PTSD or BPD.
There is a multi-jurisdictional crises stress management team, made up of various public safety agencies, River Medical, and KRMC, and is designed for first responders. If need be, a member of the team will travel to a specific incident, such as the Las Vegas concert shooting, and provide group counseling to the first responders, doctors, nurses, and volunteer groups such as search and rescue teams involved in the incident.
Contrary to popular belief, people can live a peaceful life with PTSD, but people must not ignore the symptoms and they need to consult with their medical professional to determine if they suffer from PTSD or BPD.
- Butch Meriwether, Golden Valley
Is Congress Deliberately Tanking Trump’s Second Term?
In 2009, the 111th Congress, under newly inaugurated President Obama, passed 20 acts by this point, including the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the $410 billion Omnibus Appropriations Act. These were significant, far-reaching laws that defined Obama’s early presidency. In contrast, the 119th Congress, under President Trump’s second term, has passed only five items. Three are resolutions rejecting administrative regulations, one is a Continuing Resolution extending Obama’s and Biden’s spending priorities, and the fifth, the Laken Riley Act, is the most notable achievement. The last federal budget passed was in 2008, leaving the government reliant on stopgap measures for nearly two decades.
The Senate has confirmed Trump’s cabinet-level positions promptly, but this is where public attention fades. Thirty critical sub-cabinet positions remain vacant, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune plans to delay action until August. Thanks to rules changes by the late Senator Harry Reid, Democrats can stall each nomination for only about two hours, meaning Thune could resolve this in roughly 70 hours if he chose to act. If Thune lacks the resolve, Vice President J.D. Vance, as President of the Senate, could step in to push these confirmations through.
President Trump understands the urgency. On his first day, he signed 26 executive orders, and by May 2, 2025, that number reached 145. His supporters celebrate this flurry of action, but Democrats are already preparing counter-orders to reverse Trump’s policies, ready to be signed en masse by the next Democratic president, perhaps by an army of Autopens.
Congress must act as the partner voters elected it to be, but instead, it’s mired in familiar Republican dysfunction and BS. The House passed a budget resolution boasting “over $1 trillion in cuts,” conveniently omitting that this figure spans ten years—equating to just $100 billion annually, only to scrap it in favor of yet another CR. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, has identified $165 billion in immediate waste, not to mention billions to Ukraine. The Senate’s proposal is even more pathetic, offering $4 billion in cuts—again, over ten years, or a mere $400 million per year. These figures are laughably inadequate.
Congress’s budgeting rhetoric is deliberately misleading. When discussing cuts, they use ten-year projections to inflate small numbers. When addressing the budget’s size, they switch to single-year figures. The current federal budget is approximately $6.8 trillion annually, or roughly $68 trillion over a decade. Cutting $4 billion to $1 trillion from that is a drop in the bucket. The reasoning is simple: they think you are stupid.
Promises of a “big, beautiful bill” sound exciting, but leaks reveal a lack of ambition or substance. On taxes, Congress is debating whether to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which has been in place for eight years. Framing the status quo as a “tax cut” is disingenuous; it’s simply maintaining current policy; it is not in any way shape or form a tax cut. Trump’s campaign promises to make tips tax-free for Las Vegas workers, while a savvy move to win Nevada, benefits only about 2.5% of U.S. workers—hardly a transformative tax cut. Worse, there’s talk of a “millionaires’ tax” to fund these modest measures, a move that contradicts the economic growth Trump champions. Where are the spending cuts?
It’s hard to shake the impression that Congress is undermining Trump’s second term. Biden’s economic policies, designed to create disaster in 2025, are taking effect, and Trump’s tariff plans, while potentially beneficial long-term, will cause short-term pain. The only way to avert economic disaster is bold action: massive, across-the-board tax cuts, not token gestures for a tiny fraction of workers, paired with aggressive deregulation. Why hasn’t the REINS Act, which would curb bureaucratic overreach, been passed this year?
Congress’s inaction is not just a failure of leadership; it appears to be outright sabotage. With the economy at a tipping point, Republicans must stop posturing and deliver the sweeping reforms they promised. If they continue to dawdle, they risk not only Trump’s agenda but the trust of the voters who gave them power. Congress: get serious, get off your ass, get to work, and stop playing games with America’s future.
- Ethan Benson, Kingman
Best Wishes
Thought I would share this with you. Our United States Postal Service window clerk ' LINDA K. ' is retiring APRIL 30, 2025. She is U.S.ARMY she served 30 ± years with our postal service. She is an amazing lady, she worked incredibly hard her entire life.
Wishing her happy retirement, and many many thanks for solid work ethic, highly professional attitude to helping United States Postal Service customers, and so much more during her career. Our best wishes and congratulations to her.
Respectfully,
- Ms. Elsie Ganzon, Kingman