Watch CBS News

South Florida Vets Take To The Stage To Deal With PTSD

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- They're known as the Combat Hippies and they're in the last week of rehearsals for their show called "Conscience Under Fire."

They're a group of war veterans from South Florida who are on a mission to find effective ways to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Teo Castellanos is the director.

"This piece brings together four veterans from the Iraq war who are working through PTSD and are actually flipping it into post traumatic growth through writing and performance," Castellanos said.

Andrew Cuthbert is a Marine veteran. He's one of the actors in the show. He explains just the fact of being in a war zone can cause PTSD.

"We want to set the example to show other veterans this is what we're doing," he said. "This is how we found healing and this is how you can too."

Andrew said being in the show has given him peace and clarity, and it's something others desperately need.

"There's 22 veteran suicides a day and that statistic pains me more than anything right now," he said. "To say that we survived war and then come back and lose the battle at home, it makes no sense to me and we just want to figure out why so that we can be the change."

The show hits the stage Friday and Saturday at the Teatro Prometeo at Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus in Downtown Miami. Click here to reserve free tickets.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.