Spiritually,
many veterans near the end-of-life have a need to resolve suffering caused by
combat-related events that conflict with their personal beliefs. During my weekly visits with him, my hospice patient Nat and I had several conversations about his
military service. His comments reflected his
unresolved pain:
“I
fought in a war years ago. Gave the best I could give. I’ve seen and done
things you couldn’t imagine. Some of them were horrible, I mean really
horrible. Don’t ask me to tell you what they were. I can’t talk about it.
They say time heals all wounds, but it’s a lie. I left Viet Nam, but Viet Nam
never left me. I carry it with me everywhere I go. All these years later, I
still have nightmares like you wouldn’t believe. The doctor says it’s
post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. I wake up shaking, gasping for breath
with tears in my eyes. In my dreams, I’m always running hard trying to escape.
Sometimes my enemies are close enough for me to touch. I almost stop breathing
to keep them from hearing me. I’m constantly thinking I’m not going to make it.
Some nights they kill me before I wake up. My dreams are so raw, so real they
turn my soul inside out.”
(Excerpt above from Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes)
A
pilot study with veterans and chaplains focused on understanding chaplains’
perspectives regarding the spiritual
needs of veterans like Nat and the spiritual support chaplains can offer them.
Having provided spiritual care to veterans at the end-of-life in a Veterans
Administration hospital, these chaplains offered this information after being
interviewed:
1)
Chaplains frequently encounter veterans at the end of life who are still
suffering from thoughts or images of events that occurred during their military
career.
2)
Although some veterans are hesitant to discuss their experiences, chaplains
are successful with helping the veterans to open up.
3)
Chaplains use both religious (e.g. confessing sins) and nonreligious
approaches (e.g. recording military experience) to help veterans heal.
This
pilot study information is helpful because little research exists on the combat
experiences of veterans as they relate to veterans' spirituality. Further studies
are needed to examine the value of integrating the chaplain service more into
mental health care for veterans. Including
clergy and spiritual counselors, particularly those with specific PTSD
training, on care teams for veterans can improve the end-of-life journeys for patients like Nat.
Many healthcare staff members who work with
dying patients will tell you they have had patients share stories about seeing
dead people, ghosts, spirits they recognize, and angels. View this post
for my personal story and an informative video: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/end-of-life-seeing-dead-people-angels-frances-shani-parker?trk=mp-author-card
Frances Shani Parker, Author
Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer
in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book
editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.
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