{"id":7908,"date":"2025-03-20T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7908"},"modified":"2025-03-20T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T13:30:00","slug":"out-of-the-shadows-one-veterans-journey-through-trauma-substance-use-and-renewal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7908","title":{"rendered":"Out of the shadows: One Veteran\u2019s journey through trauma, substance use and renewal\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-03-20T13:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

The lingering trauma from his service in Desert Shield and Desert Storm followed him home, silent but suffocating. The memories\u2014walking through unfamiliar neighborhoods, uncertain who may attack\u2014were ever-present. The stress, fear and unknowns never faded.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust collecting intelligence and seeing what the effects were,\u201d Brian Treasure recalled, \u201cit\u2019s not as clean and clinical as you would see on the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

After leaving the Navy, Treasure found work as an executive assistant. The job allowed him to buy a house and settle into a routine. On the surface, life was good\u2014at least, it looked that way.<\/p>\n

But the past doesn\u2019t always stay in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A dark descent<\/h2>\n

Despite his success, Treasure couldn\u2019t escape the nightmares. They came relentlessly, night after night, dragging him back to places he wanted to forget. Then came his introduction to drugs.<\/p>\n

What started as a way to cope quickly spiraled into something much darker. His life unraveled. The job disappeared, the house was gone and he found himself homeless. His first attempt at rehab ended in relapse. With nowhere else to go, he fell back into old habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really had no place to go,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I found myself right back down here in this neighborhood. And unfortunately, back with the same people, around the same influences. And it was a very short period of time before I had relapsed again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meth became his escape. It kept him awake for days, sometimes weeks at a time. Most importantly, it kept the nightmares away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t sleep,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd my main thing was it kept me from having the nightmares. It made me feel good. And I didn\u2019t have to dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

But addiction came with consequences. Arrests piled up. His health declined. <\/p>\n

During his last stint in jail, his health reached a critical point. \u201cI had a lot of difficulties breathing. I couldn\u2019t lay down. Didn\u2019t have the energy to walk up a flight of stairs,\u201d Treasure shared. \u201cFirst night out, I got released and realized I really had a problem, and I was really struggling. I got into the emergency department, and that\u2019s when they discovered that I was in heart failure. They immediately admitted me to telemetry and started treating me there.\u201d<\/p>\n

A turning point<\/h2>\n

That hospital stay was the turning point.<\/p>\n

While recovering, Treasure was assigned a telehealth nurse who treated him kindly and patiently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is also where I started reconnecting with other Veterans and feeling that camaraderie again, feeling that comfort, that being welcome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He felt like he belonged again for the first time in a long time.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A new path forward<\/h2>\n

At VA, Treasure learned about the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) program\u2014a way for Veterans battling addiction, homelessness and mental health struggles to reenter the workforce. He saw a bulletin board about safety inspections and immediately saw an opportunity.<\/p>\n

His enthusiasm paid off. When Treasure met program supervisor Carlos Aguilar, he came prepared. Treasure brought a notebook filled with safety procedures and policies he had written himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe handed me a notebook, and it was all the previous work he\u2019d done in the safety room,\u201d said Aguilar, a former occupational safety and health chief and Army Veteran. \u201cHe had procedures. He had policies. That impressed me right out the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Treasure was hired full-time to a position just for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey actually established a position so that they could hire me,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m the safety manager.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Treasure\u2019s journey didn\u2019t stop there. Now he helps others in the same situation he was once in. Veterans coming through the CWT program work under him, and many have moved on to full-time jobs, either at VA or elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s giving back to the system that helped save him.<\/p>\n

Treasure has also used his experiences to help shape programs at VA, including participating in developing a needle exchange program. His firsthand knowledge of addiction gave him a unique perspective on what the initiative needed to succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to use my experience as a former drug abuser to help them understand some of the nuances that the program needed to have,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Redemption and giving back<\/h2>\n

Today, Treasure stands as proof that redemption is possible. He is no longer the man who was lost, wandering the streets. He is a leader, a mentor and a Veteran who fought his way back.<\/p>\n

For Veterans like Treasure, the battle doesn\u2019t always end when the uniform comes off. Sometimes the hardest fight is the one to reclaim your life. With the proper support, that battle can be won.<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One Navy Veteran’s journey from trauma and substance abuse to renewal, thanks to VA’s Compensated Work Therapy program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care","category-mental-health-recovery"],"yoast_head":"\nOut of the shadows: One Veteran\u2019s journey through trauma, substance use and renewal\u00a0 - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One Navy Veteran's journey from trauma and substance abuse to renewal, thanks to VA's Compensated Work Therapy program.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7908\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Out of the shadows: One Veteran\u2019s journey through trauma, substance use and renewal\u00a0 - 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