-My name is Ponce. U.S. Navy.
I served in various places from July 1988
until December 2011.
Some of the things that I pushed down initially
was really the fear of some of the operations that we did,
and under the austere environments
in which we were in.
That manifested itself in a lot of different ways.
I was very fortunate.
A Navy chaplain was the one that guided me and said,
"Let's talk about it."
The things that he saw, I think, was my meter
and how I talked was very sullen, dull, flatline.
Definitely the constant gazing around
as if there were a threat,
and we're just talking to one another.
And the complete almost depletion
of just basic self-confidence.
Not to be melodramatic, but it became very clear
that he had convinced me at that moment,
"You wanna see some help?" And I think I was really
at the end of my rope, And I went, "Yeah."
Mine was a combined therapy.
It was medical as well as therapeutic.
One of the first things that they do
is they remove you, frankly.
They place you in what's called LIMDU,
or limited duty, for about 180 days.
And that's when they triage --
give an assessment of what's going on there.
And then you're reevaluated at about maybe the 90-day part --
90-day part, by doctors.
And they actually have a medical board
to see how you're tracking, how you're coming along.
And in my case, at that time,
I was found fit for full duty again,
and I resumed my career.
You think, "Okay, now I'm fixed and I'm good."
And so, you say, "I don't need this therapy anymore," right?
But you haven't found a lot of those coping skills,
or you may have another incident that then you find yourself
not able to deal with those things,
or you don't have to mechanics or the instruments to do so.
So, what I found myself then, I became a better --
I became better at masking it --
It was completely counterintuitive
-- at the end of my career.
And that's when it really came to a head,
because then some of the -- Because it's compounded.
Some of the military experiences,
now you have your internal experiences,
and now the external experiences
because you're not out there deployed on the front line.
It came to a head, and resulted in me
having to actively seek assistance with, specifically,
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
They have what's called the Vet Centers.
And the Vet Centers are one more tool in mental health in which,
in my case, you would go to six to eight weeks
of whether it be group counseling
or individual counseling,
individual assessment.
It's free.
It's free, so there was not a hindrance there.
And what's really important as well is,
if I find that I'm in a situation
because of some of my conditions,
I feel free and know where I can go to get an answer.
I don't have to self-medicate.
I don't have to self-loathe.
I can acknowledge, "You know,
I'm not feeling comfortable here,
and this is the reason why."
And then be able to use some of those
coping mechanisms to right-size myself.
At the time, some of the stigmas that I had concerns about --
Would I be derailing my professional career?
Would I lose my security clearance?
Would I be seen as someone who's faking?
So, of course, on active duty, that was a very real concern.
And, might I add, it's still a very real concern
for some of the people that I still interact with
that are on active duty.
But of course, what I share with them is,
"Listen, it's normal.
There isn't a stigma attached to it.
It's better to be healthy.
Reach out the Veterans Administration
and seek help.
It's fun out here. It's okay.
Things happen, but you can recover.
And we're here to help you."