US Navy Petty Officer and Virginia pageant queen Amber Wandtke, champions on behalf of PTSD.
She might be a beauty queen, but Amber Wandtke’s message is anything but frivolous.
Her awareness platform, first as Mrs. Virginia International and now as Mrs. Eastern States International, focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s a topic near to her heart, after watching her husband battle the disorder after serving with the Army in Iraq.
Since winning the Mrs. Virginia title a year ago, Wandtke, herself a Navy sailor stationed in Norfolk, Va., has traveled the state and beyond to make those with PTSD know they are not invisible.
She’s done so by sharing her story, as well as passing along resources for those who might not know where to turn for help. She’s even spoken on Capitol Hill about the need to support new medical research for PTSD.
Even when she didn’t win the Mrs. International title (she finished among the top 10), Wandtke knew she had still done something valuable. “The important part was that I was spreading the word about those who felt helpless against PTSD,” she wrote on her blog at amberwandtke.com.
PTSD can happen to anyone, military or not, after witnessing traumatic events such as combat or natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes. It’s not clear why some people develop PTSD and some don’t, but those with it can find themselves reliving the event to the extent that it seriously disrupts all aspects of their lives.
Wandtke’s husband, Nick, came back from a year’s deployment to Iraq and found himself having nightmares and trouble sleeping. A diagnosis of PTSD depressed him and took a toll on their marriage. But therapy helped.
“Almost three years later, he’s almost healed,” Wandtke says. “We were lucky to catch it early, but it definitely doesn’t lighten the load of what we had to go through. I’m grateful that he allows me to share our story of struggle and recovery from this invisible war.”
The Wandtkes moved to Virginia in early 2013, and Amber wanted to do something to meet new people, as well as something meaningful. She had participated in pageants in the past, and Mrs. Virginia seemed like a good fit. She quickly chose PTSD as her awareness platform.
After winning the Virginia title in February 2013, Wandtke, 27, threw herself into the cause. She’s a Virginia chapter member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the national spokesperson for Chicago Medical Innovations, which treats PTSD patients, and is sponsored by Advanced Health Solutions.
Wandtke’s reign as Mrs. Virginia ended in September, but her efforts didn’t. Recently, she was named Mrs. Eastern States International and continues to promote PTSD awareness around the country. New Year’s Eve found her in New York City, at a Wounded Warrior Project event, where she rang in the new year with other supporters of PTSD awareness (and got to meet Ryan Seacrest and Miley Cyrus).
She’ll compete again in the Mrs. International pageant this July.
Wandtke doesn’t pretend to be a medical expert on PTSD, but what she says she can do is make sure PTSD has a voice. She wants to make sure those with PTSD know the signs, triggers, treatment and recovery options, and most of all, to know they’re not alone.
“It helps people,” she says, “to just see that it’s okay to talk about it.”