Spiritual Minded Military Guam Army National Guard: Why Does Typhoon Season Trigger My PTSD — The Storm Recovery Protocol
You know what I mean. The pressure drops. The wind picks up. The sky turns gray. Cones and spaghetti show up on your weather app. The news anchorman calls out the word "Typhoon."
Your brain is slow to catch up with your body. My chest is tight. Jaw clenched. Scanning. Waiting. Ready.
You are not in a combat zone. You are in the living room of Barrigada. You're at your desk at Andersen Air Force Base. You are at your Humvee at Ft. Juan Muna.
However, your body is not aware of it. The storm is now here. The trigger is the storm.
Typhoon season on Guam is June through December. Pressure changes for 6 months. Tracking dots for six months. Total wait: 6 months for the next one to come. Six months of a nervous system on high alert.
You are not crazy. You are not broken. You're going through the annual PTSD trigger. The Storm Recovery Protocol is the way to get through typhoon season.
"You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm." — Isaiah 25:4
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WHY TYPHOONS TRIGGER PTSD
It's not that hard of an answer. Your brain is working on your problem. Your brain is working to keep you safe.
The trigger has three levels of activation.
1. Lack of Control
Typhoons cannot be prevented. It can't be passed to other people. The only thing you can do is make it and wait. There is no control, which means it is the same as in combat. The enemy was the one that made the decisions. You responded. It is the typhoon who decides. You respond. Your body remembers.
2. Sensory overload
The wind howls. The rain pounds. The pressure drops. These are not neutral feelings. These are the same feelings you had prior to bad things occurring overseas. Your body learned:
pressure drop = danger. Wind howl = incoming.
Your body is not wrong. You have been equipped.
3. The Aftermath
The storm passes. The destruction remains. For years you've been in combat and witnessed the aftermath of the attack. A typhoon is like a battle. Downed trees. Destroyed homes. Displaced families. Your brain can't distinguish between the two.
The Storm Recovery Protocol covers all three levels.
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THE TYPHOON PREP PATTERN
You're familiar with the pattern. You have experienced it 12 times.
1. The Wait
The storm is still days in the future. The models shift. The cone widens. Your anxiety builds. You cannot act. You can only watch. The enemy waits to tire you out.
2. The Impact
The wind is loud. It has been pouring all day long. Your body is in full survival mode. Adrenaline. Cortisol. Hypervigilance. You cannot sleep. You cannot eat. You cannot rest.
3. The Aftermath
The storm passes. Your body is in survival mode. The excitement never subsides. The cortisol doesn't normalize. You're in a rut, but you can't get out of it. You take drinks to relax. The aftermath protocol is the bottle.
4. The next storm
There's still a season, still a season. An additional storm is developing. You haven't gotten over the previous one. The cycle repeats.
The Storm Recovery Protocol resets the cycle at each stage.
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THE STORM RECOVERY PROTOCOL
1. The Pre-Season Preparation
Typhoon season is here, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can get ready for it before it happens.
Repeat in May prior to the start of the season:
- Prepare an emergency kit. Water. Food. Batteries. Not just for the storm. For your nervous system.
- Schedule therapy between June and December. Don't trigger on the trigger. Be prepared with the appointments on the calendar.
- To your battle buddy, say, "I know typhoons are tough for me between June and December, so I need you to look in on me during that time.
- Create your Storm Script. Three sentences that will be read at the trigger's activation. “This is a typhoon; I am safe. The storm will pass. I am remembering my body; I am not back there.”
2. The Watch
The storm is approaching. Models are tracking. You're feeling more and more anxious.
What to do during the watch:
- Reduce weather app usage. One time per hour. Not 10 times a minute. That's not working to their benefit. This is playing into the anxiety.
- Deploy Cellular Hydrate. One scoop. 16 ounces of water. Your nervous system is controlled by hydration. Dehydration amplifies panic.
- Wear your Spiritual Minded Military shirt. The uniform says, "We are on duty." We are prepared. We are not helpless.
Follow the Storm Script. Read it out loud. You must see the words in your brain.
3. The Impact
The storm is here. The wind is loud. Your body is screaming for food.
What to do during the impact:
- Try not to resist the adrenaline. Adrenaline kicks in automatically. Don't fight it; it will make it worse. Acknowledge it. Thank you, body; my body is protecting me.
- Breathe. 4-7-8 breaths. Inhale 4 seconds. Hold 7 seconds. Exhale 8 seconds. Four cycles. The adrenaline doesn't abate when the breath stops. Your nervous system gets the message from your breath: "We're safe enough to breathe slowly.
- Stay in one room. Do not pace. Avoid testing all windows. Pick a room. Stay there. When in movement, hypervigilance is amplified.
4. The Aftermath
The storm passed. You are still in the survival mode of your body.
What to do after the storm:
- Mushroom Coffee. One cup. Not for energy. For ritual. Your body needs the signal that the crisis is over.
- Debrief with your battle buddy. Call them. Say, "The storm passed." My body is still in survival mode. Talk to me until I come down."
- Do not drink alcohol. Alcohol postpones the recovery. Alcohol resets the timeline. You will feel relief for an hour and anxiety for three days.
- Run the recovery timeline. Your body will take 72 hours to return to baseline. 72 hours. Not one day. Not two days. Three days. Be patient with your body.
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THE ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE CONNECTION
Andersen Air Force Base is home to the 36th Wing. The base has been hit by dozens of typhoons. The airmen and soldiers at Andersen have a protocol for the storms. They secure the aircraft. They protect the assets. They shelter in place. Then they recover.
Your body is an aircraft. Your mind is the asset. The Storm Recovery Protocol secures you.
You learned at Andersen how to prepare for a typhoon. You never learned how to prepare your nervous system. The protocol is the missing training.
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THE NAVAL BASE GUAM ASSIGNMENT
Naval Base Guam is home to the submarines. The submarines go deep. The deep water is calm. The storm cannot reach the bottom.
Your assignment is to go deep.
The surface is the trigger. The surface is the wind. The surface is the anxiety. The deep is the protocol. The deep is the breath. The deep is the recovery.
Go deep. The storm cannot reach you there.
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Conclusion
Guam Army National Guard, you asked why typhoon season triggers your PTSD.
The answer is your body is doing its job. Your body learned that pressure drops, wind howls, and the aftermath means danger. Your body is not wrong. Your body is trained.
The Storm Recovery Protocol is your retraining.
Pre-season preparation. The Storm Script. Cellular Hydrate for the watch. Mushroom Coffee for the aftermath. The 72-hour recovery timeline. Your Spiritual Minded Military shirt on your chest.
Typhoon season comes every year. The protocol works every year.
You have survived every storm so far. You will survive this one too. The protocol is how.
This is the Spiritual Minded Military Storm Recovery Protocol for the Guam Army National Guard. Typhoon season is the enemy's season. The protocol is your counter-season. You have survived every storm. You will survive this one. Fall in.
The Remnant does not transition. The Remnant re-enlists.
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