I would like to add to the conversation with my recent revelations about PTSD. My most profound discovery was that it can lay dormant in someone for years and thereby be totally ignored. PTSD can be "triggered" by situations and circumstances that normal daily stress, caused by the ups and downs of life, that are experienced by everyone. In other words, PTSD is for all intents and purposes a real "Ticking Time Bomb".

After VietNam in 1971 I had never heard the term, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, let alone aware of it's affects. I was home and I was OK, or so the Army said, and I was done with war. I was ready to resume my life that had been interrupted! So away I went and ignorance was bliss! Then my life seemed to fall apart, over and over again, one thing right after another, family, business, friends, all lost to the point of deep despair and depression. I had failed at everything, my entire existence seemed ludichrist to me. My hope for myself totally evaporated when I could see that not only was I not facing my problems but that I was now hiding from them, ignoring them like a scared child. I was convinced that I had lost my mind or God hated me or both. At any rate I was close to canceling my contract for breathing. Why not? Just a big loser!

Long story/short, as just another homeless veteran, I finally went to the VA hospital for a service connected physical disability a few years ago only to be diagnosed with PTSD. I was surprised and confused but since then I have come to understand the disorder and realize now that it was like a land mine that was there for me to walk on.

The pills and talks are nice but progress has been really slow so far. The point is that I have been told that I most likely will be on these pills and doing this therapy for the rest of my life because my problems have very long roots. Since my PTSD was not diagnosed or treated for over 30 years I am most likely stuck with the monster that, I am convinced, has ruined my life.

As a side note, the VA has been a bigger fight for me than the Viet Cong. If not for the assistance of the DAV I would be nowhere at all with my attempts at a fair shake from my government. I wrote to Sen John McCain on several occasions. The Presidential candidate and his staff, were not willing to do anything at all during my appeals to the VA for disability compensation. I have been waiting for nearly two years for an answer to my latest, and my last chance, appeal per the VA system. All I can do is pray as I am still homeless and have not been employed for over ten years. I wonder what more a veteran has to do to qualify for a chance to live, not just exist in, what is left of his life?

Search out this demon, PTSD, early and often. If you find the life sucking problem then treat it with all the powers at your disposal and with vengeance! Whatever it has a chance to destroy of human faculties may never be replaced! Chase the beast unceasingly until it is understood and tamed. PTSD is real, just as real as a lost arm or leg or eye.

If you brought a "Ticking Time Bomb" home with you you had better get it diffused PDQ. Putting it off can cause more problems than you can deal with for sure. Learn from my story and don't blow yourself up!

quote:

PTSD is real, just as real as a lost arm or leg or eye.

You bet it is.