Listen to the UNcivilized Podcast:

PTS or PTSD. You may have heard of it, but, did you know that many of our first responders and veterans suffer from it? During the service, many of the veterans (or almost all of them) had to see things that may be shocking for many of us. Today's guest, Tom Voss, has seen the most horrible tragedies and because of that, he developed PTS which led him to stumble upon the addictions field but he found the light in meditation.

In this episode, we dove into subjects such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how this can affect really hard the people that suffer it, how veterans and first responders deal with PTSD, how meditation can take you out of addictions; the subjects that not everybody talks about.

About Tom Voss

Tom Voss served on active duty in the United States Army for three years, from 2003 to 2006. He served as an infantry scout in the battalion scout-sniper platoon. In October of 2004, Tom was deployed to Mosul, Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. After returning home, Tom struggled with reintegration and was diagnosed with PTSD in 2008. After being pushed to the brink of suicide, Tom knew he had to do something to help himself heal. In 2013, he teamed up with fellow combat veteran Anthony Anderson to plan and execute a 2,700-mile trek from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Los Angeles, California.

This journey was captured on film by Emmy®-nominated documentary filmmaker, Michael Collins. The film, which has enjoyed theatrical releases in New York and Los Angeles and been screened at dozens of film festivals nationwide, is called Almost Sunrise. In November 2017 Almost Sunrise was broadcast nationally as part of the P.O.V. documentary series on PBS, resulting in an Emmy nomination.

Tom is the co-author of the memoir, Where War Ends: A Combat Veteran’s 2,700-Mile Journey to Heal ― Recovering from PTSD and Moral Injury through Meditation, Published by New World Library, October 2019

Connect with Tom

Website: themeditatingvet.com
Twitter: @Tom__Voss
Instagram: @thomas_voss0

What you'll hear

3:38 Tom talks about how Ojai, California is dealing with the pandemic.

4:44 Who's Tom Voss and what is he building to impact the world.

6:05 Tom explains how trauma can affect humans.

7:22 Tom talks about PTSD after being part of the army and the addictions that came with it.

11:14 Tom's experiences with the VA.

15:20 Veterans PTSD during service and how they can be replaced for having it.

17:20 How veterans deal with PTSD after the service and try to keep a normal life.

18:39 Tom explains how PTSD is developed and can affect your life.

20:17 Tom's first time doing meditation and how it shifted his life.

26:58 How meditation turned into a daily routine for Tom.

28:47 Meditation and the masculine world.

30:13 How to reach the perfect meditation.

31:49 Tom's thoughts about how veterans should use meditation to heal.

36:36 The difference between situational PTS and developmental PTSD

37:30 What does 'Moral Injury' mean

38:54 Why we should protect our peace at all costs.

40:31 How we can use meditation to understand and heal traumas.

42:52 How Tom overcame the PTSD.

45:27 The other components that helped Tom overcome PTSD.

48:00 Tom's recommendation for the people that are dealing with the PTS because of covid.

50:09 How to support Tom.

51:35 Where to find Tom.