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Post Traumatic Stress

CPT4209BCPT4209B Member Posts: 7 ✭✭
edited January 2008 in US Military Veteran Forum
How do you guys deal with this stuff. I am not a vet, I am a firefighter. It has ruined my marriage at this point to where she left. I have a kid that is 3 and a wife i love but doesnt understand just how dang bad this stuff is and all its little idiosyncracies that go along with it...anger sadness, guilt, rage, helplessness, and the inablility to make a decision sometimes, let alone the whole tomorrow may not happen thing ...so live life right now! Any help I would love to hear. Unfortunately I know someone out there has this crap too, and for that I am sorry. At least know that your efforts over there did make a difference. I can type while drinking a beer to try and help my mind to get to a point to ask you guys for help. Thanks for all you did, and sorry for the loss of those that I will never have the chance to buy a beer for.
M.K.
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Comments

  • cercer Member Posts: 826 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    don't think you'll get many replies. only can say one thing GET SOME HELP call a doctor.
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  • guns.comguns.com Member Posts: 40 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    My two cents. I was always told in this order: Family, faith, and your job. You choose. I left my law enforcement job of over a decade I loved but not as much as my family, your not alone. It's hard to give up that working relationship with the buddies and the excitement but it can be done. It's nice not having to make those life threatening decisions and wondering about tomorrow and just being a regular joe. Get help is a good idea too. Not an easy step, but a good one. Take Care brother.
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  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000 ✭
    edited November -1
    I didn't know what PTSD was until the 90's. That being said, I know I suffered with it to a small degree. Time seemed to heal the problem, but if you suffer from it, get help from a qualified professional, and do it immediately.
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  • CPT4209BCPT4209B Member Posts: 7 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I appreciate the posts, just was hoping to hear some positive actual ways of dealing besides the professional help, that i am going through. Your ABSOULUTELY RIGHT, FAMILY FIRST, BUT SHE BAILED!!
    [:(]
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  • cercer Member Posts: 826 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    PTSD will mess you up. GET HELP FROM DOCTOR! you don't realize how it not only effects you but your Loved ones.i knew something was wrong but didn't know what. others could see the changes but i couldn't. i only knew something was screwed up and getting worse. lost a lot before i got help.
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  • Smoky14Smoky14 Member Posts: 531 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The "professional help" thing can be a double edge sword. If you seek help and were military VN era you were immediately removed from promotion consideration because you were't a real soldier. many who needed help didn't go for it because it would ruin their career; the downside being they usually lost their familys and eventually their career also because of the screwed up personal life.
    The call is one only you can make. Being a civilian you can get help without the stigma.

    Smoky speaking from experience
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  • guns.comguns.com Member Posts: 40 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I just wonder what she would think if she knew you would consider seriously consider another profession. It would be nice to think she may want a second chance. Just a thought.
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  • CPT4209BCPT4209B Member Posts: 7 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well that is a thought, change of job. I am like you guys i am sure, lost without the normal. What the hell is normal is the question at this point? I know what I would love to have, what i can do without. I talked with her tonight, it doesnt look good. She wont admit it, this PTSD is what drove us apart. "didnt know what was wrong till it was too late"...YUP I hear that brother. Unreal. I know you cant change another, and that is what i am trying to do along with myself, for the sake of the family. I guess time might heal...dont know.

    Are there any tricks or tips that you all use to repel the bad stuff that comes unwanted. I am kind of getting better, and it is a relief. I watch war movies...they tear me up. I find myself drawn to them , not sure if it the loss that is involved that i can relate too, or the friendships or loyalty or all of it. I got to say thank you to you guys again for your service to this great nation. Bottom line is our sacrifices and those who dont grace this world anymore from it, make it great for all these others who may never know what it is like to suffer and give more than what should humanly be possible. So for what it is worth, my cowboy hat&fireman helmet are off to you, I would have been a good guy to be next too when it got a rough. I am one loyal son of a gun, and that is what makes me push on now. It can always be worse, could be not breathing. Keep the posts coming. Any insights on self help or personal ways of dealing with this crappy condition are greatly appreciated. If you dont want to post but would consider emailing on a personal level totally confidentially i would be ever grateful. Lonelyinthesaddle@live.com is my email.
    Again thank you not only for the posts but for your services. By the way, on a veteran note and just for you to realize how much I appreciate the military, my great grandfather was a WWI vet, grandfathers were WWII vets, uncle was in the 101st airborne in WWII, two brother in laws serve currently as fly boys, one a pilot of a C-17 and the other as a loadmaster on a C-130, a firefighter that worked for me is a machine gunner in Iraq now, and until a few years ago my cousin I never got to meet, a Huey gunship pilot, was MIA in Vietnam. Finally brought home. I wont ever forget any of them or there sacrifices...or yours, althought i dont know your personal sacrifices I know they werent little, guess that is why I always donate to the Vietnam veterans functions and fundraisers.
    Thankful everyday for freedom and others' sacrifices for the sake of my way of life,
    Matt
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