John, your descriptions of PTSD behaviors in war veterans is a perfect depiction of my dad, who was in WWII.  I remember so well the times we might do something innocuous or say the "wrong" thing and the mighty rage would just about shake the house.  He would never talk about the war, we only knew he'd gotten shot in the arm.

Years later, he's mellowed out some, but he became very involved with the other men in his army division over the last 15 - 20 years and it's probably helped him somewhat.  This Christmas, we got him a display case for a couple of his medals and, in the process, found out that he was eligible for several more.  My brother-in-law, who is a Vietnam vet, did all the paperwork to be able to get them for him.  I wasn't able to be there when he opened it, but I heard that he just sobbed when he saw it.

I'm so glad we understand this condition now and have ways to treat it.  Maybe it will go a long way to stopping the cycle of abuse and depression in families.  Thanks for sharing this.

John Folk-Williams, Health Guide

5/ 2/10 2:03am

Hi, Judy -

 

It must have been very hard for your Dad - as well as the rest of you - since no one was thinking about combat trauma unless you had to be hospitalized. After WW II came the fifties was everything emotional had to be tucked inside a suit or uniform - and another 30 years went by before combat PTSD issues really came into the public mind. And it's still something most people would rather not know about. The prejudice continues that veterans ought to be able to handle these problems. I can't imagine it will ever be easy for the family or veteran but support and talking with people who've been through the same experience do seem to make a big difference.

 

Thanks for offering this insight from your own family history.

 

John