Peer-led group helps combat veterans cope

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Army veteran and Sandia National Laboratories employee John Boehm thought it would be a good idea for his fellow veterans to get together and talk over their combat experiences and the difficulties they had after coming home.

He thought he was doing a good deed for his fellow veterans, not himself. But when he listened to a Vietnam veteran tell a story of coping with PTSD for 40 years, Boehm, who served multiple tours in Iraq, realized that he was suffering, too.

"I was shocked to find (the Vietnam vet's story) mirrored my own story," Boehm said. "I just never associated my problems to PTSD."

He shared the revelation with his wife, who was not exactly surprised by the news.

"She said, 'Finally! I've been waiting for you to tell me this for three years,'" he said. "So for at least three years, I was clueless to my own struggles and thought I was coping just fine."

The Combat Stress Group that Boehm started allows Kirtland-based combat veterans to talk in a safe, anonymous environment and helps them to seek additional assistance.

"There is a lot of stigma associated with PTSD," Boehm said. "It starts in the military when you hear stories of being passed over for promotions because someone admits to having and needing help with PTSD. This has changed a lot in the last 10 or so years, but the stigma still exists."

He added that the stigma follows into civilian employment.

"In respect to holding security clearances for civilian employment, there is a lot of well-founded fear of losing their clearance or job if they seek help with or admit to having PTSD," Boehm said. "We remove our Sandia Labs badges just to have a degree of anonymity and less reluctance to attend."

To allay such fears, participants in the Combat Stress Group need not share their names or talk, and there is no sign-in.

Boehm said he is confident that participating in the group helps combat veterans in need of peer support.

"I started this group trying to help others and I feel that I've received more help than I've given," he said, "so I must continue on to repay my debt by helping all those that seek it."

The Combat Stress Group meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, 1 p.m., at the Kirtland Chapel's classroom 4.

Visit www.combatstressabq.com for more information.