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Shoulder to Shoulder: Veterans

START HERE: Welcome!

START HERE: Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to the new SANE Forums Veteran Space!

We are very excited to be able to build a community for Veterans to connect with their peers and explore the similarities and differences in each member’s military experience.

This is YOUR space, and we sincerely hope that it can be a welcoming, supportive and safe space to both give and receive peer support, and to lift each other up.

We are excited to get to know each of you, and to kick this off, we would love to invite you to introduce yourself here by clicking the “Reply” button on this post.

Or, you might be ready to jump right in and introduce yourself by creating your own discussion thread!

How to do I do that you ask? Follow the below steps to create your first post.

1) Click the ‘Start new discussion’ button at the top of the page:

2) Type in a Subject title

3) Select the Location (pick which section from the drop menu works best for your post)

4) Enter your post

5) Then click Post!

If you get stuck, we recommend having a look at this how-to guide made by forums members, for forums members.

If you haven’t engaged in an anonymous space before it can be easy to make some slip-ups here and there, if you do don’t worry, that’s what our moderators are here for! Some helpful reminders of things to steer clear from in order to remain Anonymous: Your name, location, specific location of work (past or present), contact information including social media, essentially anything that could be used to identify you in real life! You can read more about this here: https://saneforums.org/t5/Welcome-and-getting-started/Staying-Anonymous-and-Maintaining-Your-Privacy-in-the-SANE/td-p/1028207

You might spot some peer support workers/Community Builders welcoming people here and around the forums, who are always to answer any forum questions and provide support and guidance to navigating the space. You can also reach out to us via email on team@saneforums.org

Thank you for being here, we look forward to chatting soon!

@goatlatte @Azalea @Magpie22 @yggdrasil @Ocean11 @ajp @Breakfast68 @Faz22 @Toowrite @MamiyaFan @Sir @NikooJalilvand @OA_24 @Ron64 @TM71 @RJ97 @Croix @Veronica6 @Reed @EvR @JenGee @AstroB @TipToe @Radder @AlexAble @PeppyPatti @Harmonee @AloneBroken @01_Humblebee @RahulSANECCO @RugbyAFL @SouthsNo1 @Greentothebone @Oaktree @TAB @JJSmith @AllAboutMissy

69 replies

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In response to: START HERE: Welcome!

Re: START HERE: Welcome!

@r3fresh

I have been a member of Sane forums for over 4 years now. I have found it to be a very supportive space. The Veterans Forum is a fairly new space and we are hoping will take a firm hold. It is so helpful to be surrounded by peers who you don’t have to micro explain experiences to.

I am glad that you are surfing the peaks and troughs ok. Please stay connected here.

In response to: START HERE: Welcome!

Re: Welcome!

@Oaktree @AllAboutMissy

Im sorry you experienced assault. I don’t know any woman who served who hasn’t experienced some kind of sexual assault in their career - myself included.

And I agree re overeating being a result - for me I feel like I don’t deserve to be healthy if that makes sense. It’s like I don’t want to be connected to myself physically.

Im doing better now though - the value of a great trauma counsellor

In response to: START HERE: Welcome!

Re: START HERE: Welcome!

@r3fresh I know what you mean about other veteran spaces online. Some of them are extremely toxic, wrapped up as “humour” but it really isn’t funny.

This space is not like that at all. I’ve found it very supportive and safe.

Welcome and I hope you find something here you need 🙂

In response to: START HERE: Welcome!

Re: START HERE: Welcome!

Hey @r3fresh, Thanks for sharing your experiences and actually hitting "post" this time is so amazing!

Sounds like you really care about your family and the making the call to Open Arms is a really big step in the recovery journey. It can take a lot to make that first step and it's really brave of you to be vulnerable here with the community.

My father was in the Navy for 16.5 years and passed away last year sadly but he installed his beliefs and values in our familiy that he got from his service. The ADF has been a big part of my life as he continued to work for the ADF as a civilian until my late teens.

I'm really please that you mentioned "I feel like maybe I can reassure others that there is hope and that people do actually honestly care." As I believe that is true here in the community and pretty much all of the Members and Moderators who post here have a connection to the ADF. It's a safe space where you can be vulnerable without judegement and I'm sure you will find support here.


Thanks again for sharing your experiences and I encourage you to continue to reach out to your peers in the community!

Take care

RiverSeal

In response to: START HERE: Welcome!

first time here or anywhere

Army veteran. Been trying to cope on my own for decades, have chronic pain and PTSD. Have found I get older its harder to stay calm. The lack of sleep mainly due to pain is getting to me constipation a long list. Feeling pretty down for a while now put on a brave face for everyone but

In response to: first time here or anywhere

Re: first time here or anywhere

hey @Journeyman i wanted to pop in and welcome you to the forums!

putting on a brave face while you've been struggling sounds quite exhausting. i hope that this space allows you to be yourself and feel supported.

@Oaktree @Magpie22 @BecomingOkay @S1TREP

In response to: Re: first time here or anywhere

Re: first time here or anywhere

Thanks mate I hope so too

In response to: START HERE: Welcome!

Re: START HERE: Welcome!

Hi I'm Jeonn
I live in South Australia

I am a Vietnam Veteran

My circle of friends is a dot

First off, I have PTSD and alcohol problem – I drink to hide the PTSD but that only makes things worse - If I don’t drink, the PTSD comes back and then I can't sleep - vicious circle to deal with - I am seeing help from two specilist - Psychologist and now a CLINICIAN but so far has not help me - I am my own worst enemy - some people do not know what PTSD is and why I drink! - - I drink because I'm depressed and I'm depressed because I drink - again vicious circle to deal with also have spouts of Anger, Anxiety, Stress and Depression attacks, when feeling empty, lonely and depressed......

In response to: Re: START HERE: Welcome!

Re: START HERE: Welcome!

Hi @Jeonn

Welcome to the forums.

It sounds tough dealing with PTSD.

Equally tough to have issues with drinking etc.

I am glad that you have reached out here. Hang in there friend.

In response to: Re: START HERE: Welcome!

Re: START HERE: Welcome!

Hello @Jeonn and welcome to the forums.

It sounds as though you've already started to take some great steps in getting support, though I'm hearing that you're not yet seeing much change. I'm glad that you've also joined the forums here and hope that you can gain even more support from the community.

What sort of support would be most helpful from the community here on the forums?

Look forward to hearing from you

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