Tonya Oxendine - Wounded Warriors Project - discusses "Secrets. Shadows, and Superheroes"
From 11:15 am until 12:15 pm
At Ponte Vedra Beach Library
101 Library Blvd, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
Tonya Oxendine, Wounded Warriors Project discusses "Secrets. Shadows, and Superheroes"
Tonya Oxendine joined the U.S. Army a year after finishing high school — mostly to run away from a very difficult childhood and abusive family. Unfortunately, she left one abusive situation only to find another, as the first half of her nearly 30-year Army career was marred by harassment. Instead of seeking help, she remained silent and kept the pain and emotions bottled up inside. Tonya felt honored to be given the responsibility to serve her country and she didn’t want to jeopardize that. But eventually, during Tonya’s last deployment in Afghanistan, all of the pent-up emotions started to take a toll on her mentally.
“It hit all at once in 2012 during the deployment in Afghanistan,” Tonya said. “The memories of the death and suffering I saw — all this stuff came crashing down. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
It would be two more years before Tonya finally sought help for her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the severe depression and anxiety she was experiencing. The Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) Talk program gave her the connection she needed to someone who not only listened but, as she came to realize, was always there for her. She also received mental health treatment at Emory Healthcare — part of the WWP Warrior Care Network® — which helps veterans like Tonya who are living with PTSD.
https://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/tonya-oxendine