MIDLAND, Texas — Post-traumatic stress disorder affects about 20% of veterans. Many veterans come home with a hard time adjusting back to civilian life.
While there's treatment out there, one Midland veteran found a special way to cope with his PTSD all on his own.
Raymond Boswell is a retired Master Sergeant. He was diagnosed with PTSD after his deployment to Iraq in 2005. He deployed a year and a half later to Afghanistan.
That's where he discovered something that would change his life forever.
"When I was over there in Afghanistan, I started collecting faceted gemstones," said Boswell.
His interest in rocks would only grow stronger after seeing dominoes made out of a special blue rock called lapus at a local shop. After missing out on the chance to buy it, he came back home from deployment but still struggling with PTSD.
Boswell would learn more about the Midland Gem and Mineral Society. He walked in asking if he could make the dominoes using 10 pounds of lapus rocks he bought.
"They asked me, 'Have you ever done anything like this before?' 'No,' said Boswell.
That's when something incredible happened.
"I discovered something," said Boswell. "Something amazing. I could shut my mind off. All of the bad nasty mean stuff melted away. It was me and what I was doing and where I was going with it."
Boswell found his own type of treatment. It was enough to create a full complete set of dominoes that he cut and created all by himself. From bolo ties to belt buckles, Boswell now knows how to make it all.
"One day it hit me," said Boswell. "Getting to know these rocks on a personal level kind of made me think of people. They're different, unique and individual. And I liken that to people. This club, all of these people made me feel at home...family."
Boswell even started his own program to help out other veterans. Veterans can take Boswell's lapidary classes where they can learn to engrave, cut or polish stones. The classes are completely paid for, all veterans have to do is pay the shop fee.
You can catch Boswell's work plus other members of the club at their upcoming mineral show. That will be at the Bush Convention Center on November 2 and 3.
For more details on the mineral show, click here.