DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — In Central Illinois and across the US, celebrating our country’s independence can come with loud noises or a big starburst of colors. However, those can sometimes be triggering for veterans.
If you turn to a different way of appreciating our freedom, you might hear something different.
“Challenges following service are so normal, they are so common. This isn’t reflective of weakness,” VA Illiana Clinical Psychologist Katie Keil said. “This isn’t reflective of someone having dropped the ball in some way, right? This is just human.”
Keil said veterans who are trauma survivors or who have seen combat may experience PTSD.
“I hear from a lot of folks that we work with, that just knowing that they’re coming can really help.”
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She said that many veterans she works with can feel disjointed or that something is wrong with them when these triggers happen.
“The military trains you to be ready to respond to these unexpected noises or events, and that’s simply what many of our veterans are doing on autopilot,” Keil said.