Mental Health Story of Hope
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Middle Aged (35-54)Accents
North American (General) North American (US General American - GenAM) North American (US West Coast - California, Portland)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Jared came to our program after returning home from special forces combat, he struggled with significant symptoms of ptsd where loud noises would trigger intense anxiety attacks and he'd struggle to breathe. Years of prescriptions and therapists weren't working. Jared was isolating, depressed and losing hope. When a therapist recommended he try a mental health program involving horses. He was skeptical but decided to try it in the first couple of sessions. He stood on the side and watched as he observed the horses, he started identifying characteristics he related with naming one of them war horse. Later in that second session, he suddenly shared in despair. I'm so sick of not being able to breathe. All these years. Therapists have told me to breathe slowly to calm myself through the panic attacks. What they didn't get was after a slow, deep breath, I'd pull the trigger for Jared. A slow breath meant ending a life. At that moment, Warhorse started walking towards him. Jared began moving towards Warhorse as they were getting closer to each other. Something extremely unusual happened. A military helicopter flew overhead. Jared looked up and was flooded with horrific memories. He felt a panic attack coming and dropped to his knees struggling to breathe. Warhorse laid down and put his face near Jared's exhaling deep rhythmic breaths. Jared placed his hands on Warhorse's nose and they began breathing in unison. About 20 minutes passed as Jared and Warhorse sat breathing together, Jared, then got up and walked over to us, shaking his head and choking back tears. He said, I don't know what just happened, but I think Warhorse is teaching me how to breathe again. We stood in silence. No words were needed. Just the healing sound of breathing again.