Coming Home Pt. 2

After returning from Afghanistan, I jumped back into my doctoral studies in psychology full-time, so I could transition from fighting wars to caring for younger warriors preparing to go to or returning from combat.  One of my favorite books at the time was Once a Warrior Always a Warrior by  COL Charles Hoge, (Ret) MD.  I read about a third of the book and then set it aside because I got so busy with required reading on my doctorate.  Big mistake!  Had I kept reading I would have learned that concentration problems are common for returning warriors.  I would study my textbook or research articles, and realized that after about 20-30 minutes I couldn't learn any more.  I couldn't stay focused longer than that.  I thought (automatic thoughts which I will described in a later post) would look like this: "I am brain damaged.  I will never be able to finish this course.  I will fail to become a therapist. I will fail as a warrior."  I ranted, I doubled my efforts, I cussed, I prayed, I escaped to do something else.  I felt like drinking myself into a coma.  Fortunately I'm too old and "seasoned" to waste time with getting drunk.  I learned as a leader of a 12-step program that adding another problem like alcoholism is not the way to fix any problem.  It only leads to other problems like damaged health, damaged relationships, divorce, and other problems I don't want.  So I adapted to overcome my limitations. I set my watch for 20 minutes of studying followed by 5 minutes of anything else involving movement- gardening, watering, exercising, etc.  Then I would return to studying and it was like resetting something in my brain.  Later when looking for some information for a paper I was writing, I picked up Dr. Hoge's book again and came across a statement that difficulty concentrating is very common for warriors returning from combat.  Wish that I had found that truth a little sooner!