The Fourth of July is a fun time for many, but not for veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder. For some, the firework-filled weekend triggers serious stressors.

  • UCF team treating vets for PTSD
  • July 4 weekend festivities can trigger traumatic memories
  • Pulse victims may also be suffering

“A lot of people who come in say, ‘I can’t go to a fireworks display.’ Some people say, ‘I have to sit with my headphones on, in a closet,’” said Dr. Deborah Beidel, a UCF Psychology and Medical Education Professor. “They can immediately go back to that horrific scene and actually re-live it again.”

Beidel runs a university clinic which treats veterans with PTSD, free of charge. They use virtual reality to recreate traumatic situations, like IED explosions, helping veterans move past them.

Fireworks can be a dangerous trigger.

“Particularly airborne fireworks can sound like mortars,” explained Benson Munyan, a UCF graduate clinician who works in Beidel’s clinic. “So, they’re close enough that they still cause all of those feelings and sensations.”

Munyan served in the Army for nearly 10 years. While he hasn’t suffered from PTSD, his patients, and some friends, have – and have encountered difficulties over the holiday weekend.

“It could be a barbeque grill, the smell of burning meat, [that] could be close enough to the smell of burning flesh that it’s a problem,” he said. “I’ve had patients tell me that fireworks are problematic and they would avoid them at all costs.”

In the wake of last month’s shooting at Pulse nightclub, Beidel said others may be silently suffering.

“Fireworks are going to sound like those gunshots. It’s not just veterans this year,” she explained.

Beidel said the top thing to do is to simply be courteous and respectful.

“I think if you have a veteran in your area, it might be nice to go to their house first and see if setting off fireworks is going to be a problem for them,” Beidel said.

“If they’re in the process of lighting off fireworks and someone approaches them with an issue, be mindful that it might not just be an issue like you’re annoying them,” said Munyan.

Beidel and her team have treated over 200 vets in the last few years, thanks to a grant. Though the funding expires in November 2016, the professor said donors have stepped up and provided some relief, allowing the team to continue their work.

More recently, Beidel’s team has been providing treatment for anyone affected by the Pulse shooting for free as well. For more information, call 407-823-3910 or visit http://psychology.cos.ucf.edu/ucf-restores.