Alcohol, violence, sex, suicide.
These are the outlets we hear most often about when the conversation touches on veterans and Post Traumatic Stress, but a few vets have actually turned to artwork as a way to express, and possibly surmount, their invisible wounds.
They made these masks at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, located at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
It was part of an art therapy group, and by the looks of it, these vets didn't hold anything back.
This mask was created by an Airman who was exposed to multiple blast injuries in combat while working on a bomb disposal unit, called EOD -- Explosive Ordnance Disposal.
The soldier who created this mask is suffering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The constant pressure of a vice symbolizes the pain he feels as a result of his injuries.
This mask, made by a wounded soldier, represents the feeling that he needs to camouflage himself to fit into civilian society. He said that art therapy was one of the few times he felt he could truly express himself.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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