You feel on edge. Nightmares keep coming back. Sudden noises make you jump. You’re staying at home more and more. Could you have PTSD?

If you have experienced severe trauma or a life-threatening event, you may develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress, commonly known as posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD, shell shock, or combat stress. Maybe you felt like your life or the lives of others were in danger, or that you had no control over what was happening. You may have witnessed people being injured or dying, or you may have been physically harmed yourself.

“Even though I knew they were just fireworks on the 4thof July, to me they still sounded like incoming mortars. It took me right back to my deployment…”

Some of the most common symptoms of PTSD include recurring memories or nightmares of the event(s),sleeplessness, loss of interest, or feeling numb, anger, and irritability, but there are many ways PTSD can impact your everyday life.

Sometimes these symptoms don’t surface for months or years after the event or returning from deployment. They may also come and go. If these problems won’t go away or are getting worse—or you feel like they are disrupting your daily life—you may have PTSD.

Some factors can increase the likelihood of a traumatic event leading to PTSD, such as:

• The intensity of the trauma
• Being hurt or losing a loved one
• Being physically close to the traumatic event
• Feeling you were not in control
• Having a lack of support after the event

What are the signs of PTSD?BACK TO TOP
“Driving down the roads in my home town, I found myself noticing every piece of debris, avoiding every pothole.”

A wide variety of symptoms may be signs you are experiencing PTSD:

• Feeling upset by things that remind you of what happened
• Having nightmares, vivid memories, or flashbacks of the event that make you feel like it’s happening all over again
• Feeling emotionally cut off from others
• Feeling numb or losing interest in things you used to care about
• Becoming depressed
• Thinking that you are always in danger
• Feeling anxious, jittery, or irritated
• Experiencing a sense of panic that something bad is about to happen
• Having difficulty sleeping
• Having trouble keeping your mind on one thing
• Having a hard time relating to and getting along with your spouse, family, or friends

“When stress brought on flashbacks, I dealt with them by drinking them away. I considered it recreational drinking, but really I was self-medicating.”
It’s not just the symptoms of PTSD but also how you may react to them that can disrupt your life. You may:

• Frequently avoid places or things that remind you of what happened
• Consistent drinking or use of drugs to numb your feelings
• Consider harming yourself or others
• Start working all the time to occupy your mind
• Pull away from other people and become isolated

  Most combat veterans don't, or can't, talk about their problems, or what’s affecting them. Most feel that a nightmare should be no big deal or that crying for almost no reason, when no one’s around, is no one else’s business and it’s not normal. I am here to tell YOU that it is normal for what you are going through, and it’s painful. I was one of those veterans; I never liked to talk about any of my problems, especially the ones that caused so much pain and anguish to even think about it.

  I will try my best at writing about what I have been through, what my wife's had to deal with, and what we've dealt with as a couple and as a family. My blog posts may be sporadic, will probably include some rambling, and some might even be a little incoherent, but they will reflect what I have been through. It will be graphic and extremely painful, but if it can help just one other veteran, person, or couple then it will be worth it.

  I will describe things I have done to try to mitigate some of my pain and I'll also attempt to sift through the multitude of programs and support that are out there in order to share those that have actually worked, didn't take forever, and are legitimate. There are so many programs and "help" out there that it can be difficult to figure it all out.

  On this site you are invited to share your views, thoughts, and any ideas that may be of benefit to someone else. I know at your darkest hour you feel you're all alone, but you're not . . . I am proof that somebody else is going through or has gone through exactly what you are. 
  
  I created this site to try to help all those that are struggling with the same problems, the ones that come in middle the night and wake you, or have you jumping out of your skin when a car backfires in the street. It's to help deal with life after going to war. 
 
  I will try my best at writing about what I have been through, what my wife's had to deal with, and what we've dealt with as a couple and as a family. My blog posts may be sporadic, will probably include some rambling, and some might even be a little incoherent, but they will reflect what I have been through. It will be graphic and extremely painful, but if it can help just one other veteran, person, or couple then it will be worth it.