thoughts on ptsd

[jplove71]

^ Well said BP

+1

[Mazin]

Disclaimer- Never been there-Never done that. You who have been there have. You have my utmost respect.

God Bless you guys that have to deal with it. You have seen and done things most have no comprehension of. Don't let it control your life, it was a part of your life that is behind you now.

Yesterday is our history
Today is our responsibility
Tomorrow is our challenge

God Bless you guys

Damn it Bert your a freakin poet...
Thank you to all that have served!

[Chad4000]

I know a guy who bawled on my shoulder about a buddy of his that was shot right in front of him...........

I found out later it was a lie.....

It's hard to say how people deal with ****....... After my motorcycle accident, I go quite (I've been told) and I have a more cynical view of this bull**** existence. but screw it right... Nobody else gives a ****, neither do i.. Just pay the mortgage, and try to have a little left over for a rifle or two..

[El Caballo Loco]

... reserving for later post.

[Scanker19]

Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I am simply a man who like to question everything and think out side the box.

While I have deployed 3 year long times, I do not "suffer" from PTSD. My personal Integrity will not allow me to fake it. While I do have some funny things. I do not like loud noises that sound like explosions. People who have heard them know that they do not sound like a boom. There is something different about them.

With that I BELIEVE there is a difference between combat stress and PTSD. Anyone can have PTSD. I think PTSD happens when you see something you really are not prepared for. Seeing a buddy killed tragically, or seeing a random person killed in a horrible manner. PTSD does not only exist in soldiers. Someone already said that most think they have it cause they're "suppose" to. I think that is a big problem.

I think "combat stress" is that constant on edge feeling, that extra stress that some people can't keep inside which is why you get soldiers raping and killing 14 year old girls or a police officer snapping on a guy for telling him he has a CCW on him. Those are of course the extreme cases. Many, and I mean many people who come home from Iraqistan do not like being in crowed places (guilty) I believe this is from combat stress, and not necessarily PTSD.
These insurgent wars put a lot of undue stress on people due the fact you don't know where the enemy is, there are no front lines, and nowhere within those boarders is safe.

[Big Wall]

My wife is majoring in social work. She attended a seminar where a social worker who specialized in working with veterans spoke. He said that a soldier with PTSD needs to talk about what happened to him to get over the PTSD. The problem with that is the soldier doesn't want to talk about what happened and doesn't want to appear not strong enough to deal with his problem on his own.

[Mick-Boy]

Talking definitely helps.

When I was on the boat back from the invasion in '03 we had a Navy shrink try to talk to us. When I was leaving Iraq in '04 we had to fill out a bubble sheet and have Navy shrinks try to talk to us.

I don't know what the troops have now but filling out a bubble sheet (I saw terrible things. A:Strongly agree B:Neither agree nor disagree C:Strongly disagree... I mean Come on!) and talking to someone who lived in the greenzone wasn't going to be a very healing process.

That healing was going to happen when we got home and were able to decompress a little. Get enough booze in us to loosen up the tough guy persona and actually talk about some of the BS that happened with people who were there and understood. In my view, initial healing for young service members is largely a team/squad internal event. It's based on the shared experiences and camaraderie built over the deployment.

My heart goes out to the National Guard and reserve guys who are shoved right back into civilian life when they get back to the US.

[hollohas]

Check out On Killing and On Combat by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. Gives you a whole new level of understanding PTSD, among other things.
I have both if you'd like to borrow them.

Yes. Read these, great books. These are not only good books for those in combat or LEOs they are good for anyone who believes in self defense and even has a remote possibility of using deadly force (those with CCW, etc.).

[Elhuero]

not just soldiers and police get PTSD.

everyone reacts and copes differently to stressful or near death situations. some cope better than others.

things are better now that we're aware of the existence of PTSD and can take steps to treat it. in decades past they'd just call it "shell shock" and send you on your way.

but (and you knew I was going to say this) using it as an excuse for your actions is bull****. the screaming CCW cop in ohio is now claiming he has PTSD.

[Ridge]

Guess I'll have to be the tasteless one this time...