You, God, and PTSD

By Dr. Todd D. Fowler

As the nation advances in combat technology and personal protective armor, more people are wounded on the battlefield than killed. By far, the most common of all injuries are psychological and the damage of core beliefs which persist long after the horrific experience when the individuals have gone home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oxford
• Release date: Mar 18, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869261762

Book preview

You, God, and PTSD:

Faith-Based Healing in our Military’s Chaplain Corps

Chaplain Todd D. Fowler, USN

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all my brothers and sisters currently suffering from the devastating effects of war, both veterans and family members, and to the many whose lives were cut short in invisible battles of both mind and soul.

Acknowledgments

At the conclusion of a four-year spiritual journey into the world of trauma and the miraculous healing power of the divine, I wish to acknowledge the hand of God throughout this project and the blessing that I have been given to focus on the needs of others and lose myself in the process. I would also like to acknowledge my wife, Janet, who supported me, prayed with me, and was patient during my long hours in the office. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the many chaplains who sacrificed their time in helping me with this project, especially my best friend, Chaplain Joseph Roach.

** The views presented in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 – PTSD and Chaplains

The Problem

Chapter 2 – Trauma Verses Faith: What the Experts Say

The Effects of Spirituality on Trauma

How Trauma Affects Spirituality

Chapter 3 – The Promise Offered by Chaplains and Clergy

Trauma Training for Chaplains and Clergy

Chapter 4 – The Study: Opinions from Active-Duty Military Chaplains

What the Study Revealed

Summary of Results

Training

The Cause

Scripture Use

The Chaplains and PTSD Website

Implications of the Study

Exclusions

Recommendations for Future Action/Research

Conclusion

Stories from Several Chaplains

Definition of Terms

References

Appendix A: Pre-Survey Questions

Appendix B: Post-Survey Questions

Appendix C: Recommended Books

Introduction

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

—Matthew 22:36–40 (KJV)

It is impossible to fully describe what it’s like to lose yourself in the service of others working as a military chaplain, a responsibility that is bittersweet. As pastors and missionaries, we perform various functions to meet the spiritual and temporal needs of those in our assigned commands. We pray with them, celebrate with them, and cry with them. As shepherds, we are blessed with an extra measure of discernment to help us understand more of what those in our charge are going through. However, this wonderful responsibility can often be a heavy load.

Modern technology and personal protective equipment has saved many lives yet significantly increased the number of stress and stress-related disorders as more individuals are injured than killed. Over the past several years, I have had the heartbreaking experience of working with many who suffer from the traumas associated with combat and hostile working conditions, some of whom have chosen to take their own lives. I have not been assigned to any forward-deployed commands or hospitals, so my experiences pale in comparison to chaplains working in such environments.

My efforts in addressing this issue began while deployed to Kuwait on board the military naval vessel USS Cleveland. During this eight-month tour, I met with a few sailors who were never evaluated for posttraumatic stress disorder after serving in a hostile environment. This, I discovered, was due to a navy instruction which states that service members assigned to ships and squadrons conducting routine deployments are exempt from receiving a postdeployment health assessment (OPNAVINST 6100.3, Department of the Navy, 2009).

After returning home, I attended all available training for chaplains on the subject of posttraumatic stress. It soon became clear that the primary undertone of most (if not all) PTSD training provided by the military was that any and all healing needed to be accomplished primarily through clinical means and that the use of faith-based healing techniques were seen as having little to no value or efficacy.

As a Christian, I believe in the divine healing power of God and that the many examples we have in our scriptures were not just parables or interesting tales. I also believe that God is never changing and that this healing power exists still today. With little effort, I discovered several documented studies which provided empirical evidence of complete healing for PTSD sufferers.

My time on the Cleveland changed the direction of my life for the next four years, and I pray this work will be used to help someone else, healer or victim, from the invisible wounds of war.

Chapter 1

PTSD and Chaplains

​Alternatively known as shell shock, traumatic war neurosis, and gross stress reaction, posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, was first identified in 1980 as a distinct psychological disorder when it was included in the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (Cameron, 1994). Even though PTSD was classified as an official psychological disorder relatively recently, there is evidence that PTSD has been documented in one form or another throughout the history of humankind.

​For example, there is evidence of an individual with PTSD in the works of Homer; specifically, within The Iliad and The Odyssey. In these works, Homer describes how the warrior Ajax showed behaviors similar to PTSD during the Trojan War, when he was slaughtering a herd of sheep, mistakenly thinking that they were the enemy (Shay, 1991). In 1688, posttraumatic stress disorder was referred to as nostalgia, as it was believed then that the ailment stemmed from homesickness among soldiers when they were away at war (Hofer, 1934).

Next came the title the Swiss disease (Jones, Sparacino, Wilcox, Rothberg, and Stokes, 1995), followed by the terms soldier’s heart (Jones et al., 1995), "railroad