Military Sexual Trauma (MST)
Contact Sheet
It is estimated that 45% of the women in the US Armed Forces have been sexually assaulted. Another report, in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, states
that of the 79% who have been harassed, one third have been assaulted and at least 14% have been gang-raped by co-workers. Many reports from the troops
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan authenticate this data.
While on active duty, I was sexually assaulted by a fellow service member. It took me weeks to speak up, but when I did, the perpetrator was brought to justice. The
event permeated my life and with the help of loved one’s, therapy and many public resources; I have been able to make peace with what happened. I know now that
it is possible to move on after an attack.
You have dutifully served your government. Now the government owes you whatever assistance you need to reintegrate into society.
I urge you to seek the camaraderie, counseling and reparations offered by these resources. If you don’t get answers, please contact me at (310) 880-0911 or
true2selph@aol.com.
April Fitzsimmons
- USAF Intelligence Analyst (1985-1989)
“Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now. Always.” - Albert Schweitzer
IMPORTANT LINKS
www.nsvrc.org National Sexual Violence Resource Center
www.vetwow.org
(Female Forum dealing with MST)
www.suzanneswift.org
(Support Suzanne as she speaks out about her abuse)
www.girights.org
(Know your Rights)
www.veteransforpeace.org
(Select Women’s Voices in Left Sidebar)
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/milesfdn/myhomepage/
The Miles Foundation
www.va.gov/RCS
(National List of Vet Centers)
DMack500@aol.com
Survivors Take Action against abuse by Military Personnel (STAMP) Contact: Ret. USAF Capt. Dorothy Mackey
www.tsnelson.com
Terri Nelson – Author of “For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the US Military
www.ivaw.net
www.optruth.org
www.vets4vets.us
Signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD occurs after any of these three events:
(1) Participating in war or battle
(2) A sexual assault or rape
(3) A natural disaster (like a Hurricane or Tsunami)
Please educate yourself on these symptoms so you can help your friends and loved ones get all the support they need as they return from Iraq and Afghanistan.
A CHECK LIST OF SYMPTOMS FOR POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)
These are common symptoms of PTSD, but are not a diagnosis. If many of these statements are true for you then please take the next step to tell someone: family,
friends or a professional.
SLEEP DISTURBANCES
* Unable to remember dreams?
* Watch TV until late in the morning?
* Do you stay awake as long as possible?
* Wake up often during the night for no reason?
* Do you wake in the morning still feeling tired?
* Do you have nightmares, dreams of being shot or pursued?
AVOIDANCE OF FEELINGS
* Do you feel hollow inside?
* Do you feel emotionally numb?
* Do you feel detached, aloof, and emotionally dead?
* Do you seem to be cold, uncaring, and even ruthless at times?
* Are you unable to feel love or compassion for others?
* Are you unable to experience either the sorrows or the joys of life?
RESTLESSNESS/LISTLESSNESS
* Numerous changes of addresses?
* Don't know why you even exist?
* Ever drive about aimlessly when you're angry?
* Do you have chronic job hopping/an unstable work history?
* Do you have no feelings of direction, meaning, purpose or significance in life?
* Have you lost interest in work or other activities that you used to enjoy?
* Ever feeling like nothings been going right and it's been like that for a long time?
ISOLATION/ALIENATION
* Had many broken relationships/divorces?
* Desire to live life as a hermit?
* Experienced lack of social contact?
* Have few acquaintances and even fewer friends?
* A desire to seek refuge by moving away from the problem?
* Feel isolated or distanced from spouse, parents, children, brothers, peers or others?
IDENTITY ISSUES
* Lack of confidence in your own abilities?
* Do you feel like a reject from society?
* Do you feel hollow inside, like an old man in a young man's body?
REDUCTIONIST THINKING
* Do you give away material things easily?
* Are you able to easily strip away all non-essentials?
* Do you feel the need to get to the point in all conversations?
* Are you irritated easily by insignificant chatter (small talk) and all non-essential conversations?
* Do you hoard material and supplies that might be necessary for survival?
* Are you able to leave the area at the drop of the hat, knowing exactly what you will take with you and where you will go?
GUILT
* Do you ever feel guilt for surviving the war, when others (who may have had more to live for) did not?
* Do you feel guilt that perhaps, if you had stayed a little longer, you could have made a difference?
* Do you feel guilt for acts committed or acts observed without making an effort to stop them?
* Do you feel guilt for returning to the safety of home and leaving friends behind who were still engaged in combat?
INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS
* Do you ever have flashback episodes?
* Do you have intense thoughts (of what might have been?)?
* Do you ever experience strong reaction to sights, sounds and smells?
* Have you ever had prolonged feelings of being somewhere other than where you are?
* Do your memories of traumatic events ever interrupt your routine thought patterns?
www.va.gov/RCS
