SANTA CLARITA, CA - Santa Clarita resident Aaron Polmounter is a U.S. Army veteran who lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his time in the military. He uses music as a form of therapy to cope with the effects of this condition.
Polmounter joined the military at 17 years old, serving as a 19 Delta Cavalry Scout. This job put him on the front lines which resulted in many dangerous situations.
"One minute you could be there, the next minute you can't," says Polmounter. The risks of his position could leave him wondering if he would make it through the day.
He also states "You're working with people that are family and you never know if they're going to be standing next to you at the end of the day or not." One of the most impactful parts of his deployments was the camaraderie that formed with him and his colleagues.
Polmounter was deployed once to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. During his last deployment, he was hit with an improvised explosive device that nearly killed him.
He received several surgeries and had to be flown out of the Middle East to a military hospital. One of these surgeries even took place while flying on a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, which is essentially a flying hospital.
His experiences left him with a diagnosis of PTSD, something he has struggled with for years now. However, he found a safe space in music.
Polmounter believes he has always used music to get him out of his darkest times. He also says he uses fast-paced music to cope because "there's something about the frequency that matches."
Larry Schallert, the Mental Health Outreach Coordinator in Santa Clarita, says fast and loud music could prove to be very helpful for people with PTSD. "Your body is amped up, it's ready to go, it's ready to fight, it's ready to do whatever it does when it's under threat. So I could see throwing on some heavy metal or some hard rock gets you going at that speed and maybe can be sort of soothing."
Schallert also says he uses music as therapy himself, since he is a musician. He finds it to be extremely valuable, saying "Music Therapy is a great thing and music is a great way to get you through the day."
By Savanna Birchfield
Contribution from Annie Sneed- Wired
Contribution from U.S. Army- Cavalry Scout (19D)
Photo by Aaron Polmounter
Video by CNN
Video by Savanna Birchfield
Audio by Savanna Birchfield
EDUCATE YOURSELF