Each and every service member’s journey during and post military life is different. PTSD is something that is starting to become a more acceptable conversation and more widely acceptable thing to have. However, that doesn’t mean that the journey for the service member is easier. You have to remember that while a diagnosis is a starting point, but the journey to get to the diagnosis is anything but smooth. But most importantly, and what people refuse to talk about are that behind closed doors there still is a family that also needs support. At the end of the day, what we seem to refuse to talk about is that the support system around the service member is directly affected in some way shape or form. Military & first responder children are incredibly resilient but they also are forced to be faced with complex topics and situations that their brain sometimes isn’t ready to process. in a lot of cases causes an array of mental health issues that no one seems to talk about. These aren’t behavior issues. These are mental health issues. 

The only way we overcome this issue is by facing it head on. First, acceptance that kids of service members need additional resources and help. Second,  as the support system for these children we need to educate ourselves and do better to help promote healthy copings skills, emotional regulation, and teach them to work through the problem instead of avoiding the problem