Sharing
SHARING YOUR OWN STORY.
Get started right now at the WoundsWeb group on YouTube
This site is about how to cope when a loved one suffers from combat PTSD and about how to lend support to others through volunteering your testimony in an open and honest forum. By offering to share your personal story with the world we hope to lift the stigma surrounding seeking treatment, enlighten others to the challenges families face in as they struggle through these scars of war and to show others that they are not alone.
HOW TO SHARE:
This is the easy part – YouTube.
I have set-up a group in YouTube called WoundsWeb
In the upper right corner is the button to submit a video to the group. From here the videos will all be maintained in one location and can be embedded into the final signaturewounds website when it goes live in May. This also allows for users to manage and maintain control of their own video. From here it can be deleted, updated, or you can easily add another video at a later date. The group is currently open so anyone can join and post, you just need to have a YouTube account and that’s free. By posting in the group you agree that I can use the video on SignatureWounds.
Then e-mail me at signaturewounds with your contact info and how you would like to be identified on the site. It could be your first name only or a web handle such as “PTSDSpouse”. The only information on the post will be the chosen name and state you are located in. No Personal contact information will be given out.
If you don’t want to post on YouTube or have a photograph, letter, unedited mini-dv tape or other non-video style “story” you would like to post, you can e-mail me at signaturewounds and we can discuss the best way to get your story on to the site.
WHAT TO SHARE:
As a loved one or caregiver of a veteran:
Your story should be about your personal experiences not those of the veteran.
It should offer some insight to you -How you cope, what you experience,
changes to your family or way of life after PTSD.
The story can be whatever you make it. It’s your story.
It can be a recollection – how was life before the deployment or the day you first met.
It can be about a coping technique or hobby that calms and centers you.
If your an artist – it could be a conceptual work such as a painting that represents your emotions.
It could be song you wrote or a page from your journal or it can be a more traditional narrative.
I can take video, audio, a photograph, a drawing, a painting or a handwritten letter.
Be as creative as you like.
In recording audio is the most important thing. People will watch if the video is not great but they will close it if the sound is bad. Keep the camera close 3-4 ft away and go to a quiet well lit place. Shut out other distractions such as ringing phones or other household noises such as the TV or the street. Face yourself into the light from a window rather then place a window behind you. If you get too nervous talking to the camera, angle the camera to the side and record while telling your story to a friend or the family dog.
The more emotional and personal the story is the better it will be. If give something of yourself, others will give back.
Keep the videos short, less than 5 minutes long as a guideline – don’t stress if it’s a little longer or if it’s only 30 seconds long that’s OK. We are not about bashing the government so while the struggles and issues in dealing with the military are OK please keep them to the minimum. Reiterating a timeline of the military did this or the military did that won’t be conducive to healing.
