Brownsburg veteran helps other vets with PTSD through gaming
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A group of veterans are helping one another combat post-traumatic stress through gaming.
Army veteran Brad Rollings from Brownsburg is a co-founder of the non-profit Dad Bod Cavalry.
Rollings said he was enlisted in the Army from 2001 to 2006 and then went to the National Guard.
The Army veteran mentioned he was deployed to Iraq during his time in the Army and afterward suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Rolling discovered playing video games was a safe way to deal with the stress and wanted to help other veterans.
Christopher King from Kentucky and Daniel Meservey from Nevada are also Army veterans and co-founders of Dad Bod Cavalry.
They host gaming sessions in hopes other veterans will join. The group often plays tactical war games amongst each other.
It’s lived streamed on Facebook and Twitch in order to raise awareness and connect with other veterans.
Money is raised through streaming and used to donate consoles and computers to other veterans who face PTSD.
King said, “It kind of opened me back up in wanting to talk to people and then it just progressed when I started playing with Brad more and more. It’s helped me a whole lot to communicate with people better again.”
“You would almost think that it would be counterintuitive with the game that we play, but actually it almost brings back that comradery even more by playing a war-type first-person shooter game and then you start remembering all the good times that you had,” said Rollings.
Meservey said, “Everyone loves it, it’s a good time. It’s not the bar, it’s not anger, it’s not substance abuse. It’s just sitting here at home playing a video game.”
The co-founders of Dad Bod Cavalry tell News 8 they hope to do in-person gaming and community outreach to help veterans in the future.
The organization is hosting a giveaway of a brand-new PlayStation 5 console. Rollings said they have received 30 submissions from people across the country who know of a veteran struggling with PTSD and could use it.