Levy Family Episode .docx

Levy Family Episode 7
Program Transcript
FEMALE SPEAKER: How did you find out?
MALE SPEAKER: There's a guy who served in our platoon. He
didn't call. Wrote
an email. He said it would bother him too much if he talked
about it.

Sorry to be the one who tells you that Eric committed suicide
last night. The last
time I saw him, he said he was adjusting to civilian life pretty
well. His girlfriend
told me it wasn't true. She said he told everyone he was doing
fine.
But the nightmares kept after him even when he wasn't sleeping.
It just tore him
up. I guess he decided he'd had enough. He ended it with a
service revolver.
Marine to the end.
FEMALE SPEAKER: I'm sorry, Jake.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you. You know, I spend almost every
night in front of
the TV, drinking until I can't remember anything else. But I
read that email last
night, and I didn't drink a drop. I just kept thinking about Eric.
You know we went
through Parris Island together?
FEMALE SPEAKER: I didn't know that.
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah. I didn't turn on the TV, either. I went
straight to the
computer. And before I knew it, I was reading about veterans
and suicide. They
say about 22 veterans commit suicide every day, 22. That's like
one every hour.
Makes it sound like we're time bombs. Makes you wonder which
one of us is
going to go off next.

FEMALE SPEAKER: You sound glad that you didn't drink last
night.
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah. I've been trying to quit for my wife.
But that email-- you
know what else I read online? I checked all over with the VA,
but it doesn't look
like they do anything to help prevent suicide. I mean, they offer
help if you ask for
it, but no prevention.
Who's going to ask for help, right? They train you to be
stronger than everyone
else, to endure. Asking for help is just not something most men
do.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Do you need help, Jake?
MALE SPEAKER: I need a lot, but not like that. I'm not ready
to check out yet. I
got a baby on the way.
© 2017 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

I found out something else. I was reading about this veteran
who committed
suicide in another state. And they started this program in his
memory that brings
other vets together to help each other.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Peer counseling?
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah, that's it. And I spent the whole rest of
the night thinking,
why don't we have something like that? We should be reaching
out to all vets, not
just those who are already getting mental health services. I'd
even volunteer to
get something like that going.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, that's a great idea. But we'd need to
find the money
for a program like that. I mean, our budget is maxed out. We'd
have to lobby the
state legislature for the funding.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, I'll do it. I'll write the letter. I want to
try.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, OK.

MALE SPEAKER: I can't let Eric go without doing something
for him. For me, too.
Additional Content Attribution
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts
Original Art and Photography Provided By:
Brian Kline and Nico Danks

Program Transcript
FEMALE SPEAKER: I know three of you did tours of duty in
Iraq, and the others
in Afghanistan. So I just wanted to follow up on that, talk about
how you're
adjusting.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MALE SPEAKER 1: You say adjust to, but there's no
adjustment. You're just
thrown back into your life like you're supposed to pick up where
you left off, but
that's a joke. Two years ago, I was dug in, pinned down by 50
Cal sniper fire, just
praying the chopper would get me out alive. Now, the hardest
part of my day is
standing in the grocery store trying to decide if I want yellow or
brown mustard
with my hot dogs.
JAKE: Nah, two six packs or a case.
FEMALE SPEAKER: You find that you drink more than you
used to?

JAKE: Why not ask him if he finds he's eating more hot dogs
than he used to?
BILL: You know why?
JAKE: Why is that? Oh great, Buddha.
BILL: Because I've been where you are. You talk about booze
like it's some joke,
but nobody's laughing. You can't get adjusted to anything when
you're trying to
get loaded.
JAKE: I guess you won't be joining me for a drink at the bar
later. I was going to
buy.
FEMALE SPEAKER: No, that's a good point, Bill. Sometimes
we do things to
avoid dealing with unpleasant feelings, like adjusting to life
back at home.
JAKE: What do you know about it? Give me a break. Back off,
or I'll make you.

BILL: I drink too much too. But I've had enough of you
mouthing off.
JAKE: My wife's had enough of me too. She's the reason I'm
here. We never
used to fight. I never used to drink so much, but now I can't
stop myself from
doing either.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So why do you drink too much?
BILL: It's the only way I can shut it out, images of what I saw
over there, horrible

things that no one should ever have to see. I wake up some
nights and I hear
mortar rounds coming in. And I reach for my helmet and my
weapon, but they're
not there. So I freak out.
And then I see pretty curtains. TV'S on. And then I remember
I'm at home. I
realize I'm not going to get blown up after all.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Thanks for sharing, Jake. You make a
good point. It can
seem a lot easier to self medicate rather than face the fears, the
bad memories
that we have. So what do you think? What are some other
things, maybe, you do
to avoid the challenge to being a civilian again?
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts

Program Transcript
FEMALE SPEAKER: It was such an intense story. I just kept
seeing things the
way he did, you know. The weird green of his night-vision
goggles, his sergeant
screaming for Jake to kill him. I just keep seeing it all in my
head.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MALE SPEAKER: Why, do you think?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Why what?
MALE SPEAKER: Why do you think you keep thinking about
this story, this
particular case?

FEMALE SPEAKER: I don't know, maybe because it's so vivid.
You know, I went
home last night, turned on the TV to try to get my mind off it.
And a commercial
for the Marines came on, and there was all over again-- the
explosion, the
screams, the man dying. Such a nightmare to live with, and he's
got a baby on
they way.
MALE SPEAKER: Could that be it, the baby?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Maybe. That's interesting you say that. I
mean, the other
vets I work with are older, and they have grown kids. But Jake
is different.
I just keep picturing him with a newborn. And I guess it scares
me. I wonder if
he'll be able to deal with it.
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts

Program Transcript
FEMALE SPEAKER: So do you want to try to go back to what
you're telling me
before?
LEVY: I can try. It was night. We were out on patrol. I
remember it was so hot
packed in our vehicle. Suddenly there was an explosion. We got
tossed into a
ditch. And somehow I made it out, and I could see it was the
Humvee behind us.

It's whole front end was gone. It had hit a roadside bomb. Our
vehicle had just
driven past it, just mistriggering it. But not them. They didn't
make it.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Remember how we practiced. Slow your
breathing down.
Inhale and exhale from your abdomen.
LEVY: Thank you.
FEMALE SPEAKER: And just take your time. Whenever you
are ready.
LEVY: So the bomb went off. I managed to get out. I had my
night vision goggles
on. And I could see the Humvee, the one that got hit. It's whole
front end was
gone. And there's this crater in the road. And inside it I could
see-- I could see
Kurt's-- our platoon Sergeant, he was lying there everything
below his waist was
gone, blown off. And he was screaming. Screaming like nothing
you'd ever
heard.
And then he was looking at me. And he was screaming for me to
kill him. To stop
his suffering. He was yelling, please. Please. And someone tried
putting
tourniquets on him. But the ground just kept getting darker with
his blood. And I
was staring into his face.
I had my rifle trained on him. I was going to do it. You know.
He was begging me

to. I could feel my finger on the trigger. And I kept looking into
his face. And then
I didn't have to do nothing. Because the screaming had stopped.
He'd bled out.
Died right there.
And all I could think was I'd let him down. His last request, and
I couldn't do it. I
couldn't put a bullet in him so he could die fast not slow.
FEMALE SPEAKER: I can see and hear how painful it is for
you to relive this
story. Thank you for sharing it. Do you think this incident is
behind some of the
symptoms you've been telling me about?
LEVY: When I go to sleep at night, I close my eyes, and I see
Kurt's there staring
at me. So I don't sleep too good. That's why I started drinking.
It's the only way I

can forget about that night. So I drink too much. At least that's
what my wife yells
at me.
We're not doing too well these days. I'm not exactly the life of
the party. I left Iraq
10 months ago. But Iraq never left me. I'm afraid it's never
going to leave me
alone.
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts

Program Transcript
JAKE LEVY: We'd be out on recon in our Humvees, and it
would get so hot. We
used to put our water bottles in wet socks and hang them right
outside the
window just so the water would cool off of a bit, and maybe
then you could drink
it.
Man, it was cramped in there. You'd be drenched, nowhere to
breathe. It's like
riding around in an oven. And you'd have your helmet on you,
100 pounds of
gear and ammo. I swear, sometimes I feel like it's still on me,
like it's all still
strapped on me.
FEMALE SPEAKER: How many tours did you do in Iraq?
JAKE LEVY: Three. After that last recon, I just-- There were
26 of us. Five
marines in the Humvee I was in. I remember I was wearing my

night vision
goggles. We passed through a village and everything was green,
like I was in a
dream or under water.
And then there was a flash, bright light just blinded me. There
was this explosion.
I can't-- I can't--
FEMALE SPEAKER: It's OK, Jake. Take it easy. I understand
this is difficult.
There's something I;d like to try with you. It's called exposure
therapy, and it's a
treatment that's used a lot with war veterans, especially those
struggling with
anxiety and PTSD.
JAKE LEVY: Exposure therapy?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes. It's to help someone like yourself to
confront your
feelings and anxieties about a traumatic situation that you've
experienced. It's a--
It's meant to help you get more control of your thoughts, to
make sense of what's
happened, and to not be so afraid of your memories.
JAKE LEVY: Put that in a bottle and I'll buy 10 cases of it.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, one part of it is learning to control
your breathing. And
when you practice that, you can learn to manage your anxiety,
to get more
control of it, not let it control you, to protect yourself. Do you
want to try it?

JAKE LEVY: Right now?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Sure.
JAKE LEVY: Why not?
FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. Well, I know this sounds crazy, but a
lot of people don't
breathe properly. And it really comes from bad habits. When
they inhale and
exhale, all the effort is here in their chest and shoulders. And

the problem with
that is you get a really short, shallow breath. And that really
increases the stress
and anxiety in your body.
Instead, a more natural breath should always involve your
diaphragm, right here
in your abdomen. When you breath in, your belly should
expand. And when you
breath out, your belly should fall. OK?
JAKE LEVY: OK.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So, let's practice. Close your eyes. Now, I
want you put one
hand on your abdomen and the other across your chest. Good.
Good. Now, I just
want you to take a few breaths, just like normal. What are you
feeling?
JAKE LEVY: I feel my chest moving up and down. But my
belly, nothing.
FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. So that's what I was just talking
about. That's OK. Let's
try this. I want you take a breath. And this time, I only want
you to allow your
abdomen to expend when you breathe in and to fall when you
breathe out.
OK, let's try it. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
You feeling better? More relaxed?
JAKE LEVY: Yes.

FEMALE SPEAKER: And the more you practice it the easier it
will become. So
when you find that stress and anxiety coming on, just do your
breathing. You can
keep yourself from getting swept by all those bad thoughts. OK?
JAKE LEVY: Yes. Thank you.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So, do you want to try to go back to what
you were telling
me about before?
JAKE LEVY: I can try. It was night. We were out on recon. It
was my third tour in
Iraq.
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts

Program Transcript
FEMALE SPEAKER: I want to thank you for getting me this
Levy case. I think it's
so interesting. Just can't wait to meet with the client.
MALE SPEAKER: What do you find interesting about it?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, he's just 31. Usually the vets I work
with are older. If
they have PTSD, it's from traumas a long time ago. But Jake,
this is all pretty
new to him. He just left Iraq a year ago.
You know, I was thinking he'd be perfect for one of those newer
treatment
options, art therapy, meditation, yoga, something like that.
MALE SPEAKER: Why?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, I've been dying to try one of them.
I've read a lot of
good things. Why? What are you thinking?
MALE SPEAKER: I'm thinking you should really think about it
some more. Think
about your priorities. It's a good idea to be open-minded about
treatment options,
but the needs of the client have to come first, not just some
treatment that you or
I might be interested in.
FEMALE SPEAKER: I mean, I wasn't saying it like that. I
always think of my
clients first.
MALE SPEAKER: OK. But you mentioned meditation, yoga, art
therapy. Have
you seen any research or data that measures how effective they
are in
treatment?
FEMALE SPEAKER: No.

MALE SPEAKER: Neither have I. There may be good research
out there, and
maybe one or two of the treatments that you mentioned might be
really good
ideas. I just want to point out that you should meet your client
first, meet Jake
before you make any decisions about how to address his issues.
Make sense?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Yeah.
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts

Program Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
FEMALE SPEAKER: You're not dressed? You're going to be
late for work.
MALE SPEAKER: I'm not going to work. I'm sick.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Of course you're sick. You're hungover. I
don't want the
boys to see you like this. Go back to bed.
MALE SPEAKER: See me like what? I told you, I'm sick.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, what do you call it when someone is
sick almost
every morning, because they drink every night while they sit in
the dark watching
TV?
MALE SPEAKER: You calling me a drunk?
FEMALE SPEAKER: What do you call it?
MALE SPEAKER: I call it, leave me the hell alone.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Baby, you need to stop this. It's tearing us
up. The drinking,
the anger-- you're depressed.
MALE SPEAKER: You said, for better or worse.

FEMALE SPEAKER: My vows don't cover this. You were never
like this before.
You've changed. I want us back, the way we used to be.
MALE SPEAKER: That way is dead. It died when I went to
Iraq.
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts

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