California: Whenever James McQuoid visits the grocery store he remembered the Iraq War.
When the Iraq War veteran heard a child crying, he remembered kids screaming in Fallujah. Coins jingling in the register reminded him of ammunition carried around a soldier’s neck. He would be in a store aisle, but not remember how he got there.
The movements and sounds put McQuoid‘s mind back in Iraqi war zone.
Calling it “a mesh of realities” he said “it’s enough to make your mind fracture.”
McQuoid, 27, has post-traumatic stress disorder, a severe anxiety disorder commonly characterized by flashbacks, nightmares and a heightened state of alertness. Of the more than 2 million U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since October 2001, it’s estimated that one in five is likely to be afflicted by PTSD or major depression, according to the RAND Corp.
These are often referred to as invisible wounds, and for veterans like McQuoid, the suffering runs deep.
By the time he returned home from his second combat tour six years ago, McQuoid was having nightmares every day. He had a hard time communicating with his wife. Paranoid of everything, he isolated himself.
“I’d stay in my house all the time,” said McQuoid, who was in the Marines from 2003-2007. “Windows were blacked out. I had cameras on the outside so I could monitor the surrounding area. … The outside scared the hell out of me.”
Fortunately, things started to change for the better about a year ago when he was matched with his service dog, Iggie, through Operation Freedoms Paws. The nonprofit, started by Mary Cortani, helps veterans train their own service dogs in northern California.
“It’s hard enough to come out of the service and get back into civilian life,” said Cortani, who served in the Army from 1975-1984. “But now they have an injury that people don’t understand. They have to find a way to balance what they’re feeling, what they’ve experienced, with everyday life.”
“Service dogs are but one tool, but they’re a very important tool, in the healing process for our veterans.”
Dogs can be trained to assist veterans in a variety of ways. For example, Iggie wakes McQuoid from nightmares, turns off lights and helps create space between McQuoid and others in public places. The dog also helps McQuoid keep his anxiety level down in stressful situations.
The veterans “are taught to focus on the dog, read the dog’s body language, not to worry about the environment,” said Cortani, 55. “If they start to have a panic attack because they’re getting overwhelmed or the anxiety is so strong, they’ll actually stop and kneel down and hug the dog.”
Through her program, Cortani can match veterans with dogs from shelters or rescue groups. Then she helps them train the dog.
“When a veteran trains their own service dog, there are immediate benefits right off the bat,” she said. “They have a mission and a purpose again. It gives them something to focus on and to complete. It gives them a sense of security and safety. … They know they’re not alone. They’ve always got their buddy at the end of the leash.”
—Courtesy CNN
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