Have you ever met a PTSD "drama queen?"

Yes, it's why I stay away from the VFW. They seem to have to one up each other and I just won't degrade my service by weaving tales. You know, I don't care what you did in the service, you served. The military isn't hollywood. Not everyone is special forces. Those that cooked my dinner, they were apart of it. I may have paved a runway that you ran missions out of. It's all important and doesn't need inflation and to inflate a story to PTSD levels just ratchets it up a bit.

Anyone who's deployed to a combat zone is not the same person when they come back. I'm not saying they got PTSD, I'm saying they're not the same. I'm not the same as I was, I've never claimed PTSD. Am I normal? What's normal?

I have seen this over and over again. The worst case was Pre-Traumatic Stress. We had a Bradley driver that was assigned to a crew that was in some heavy fighting on their last deployment. The SFC Bradley Commander had a Silver Star. The PFC driver said the stories of war gave him PTSD. Once we found out we didn't know what to think. He still deployed. I ran into the Fobbits PTSD also. I would often run into guys with the "while you know how it was for us out there." I would ask them what they did. I would come to find out that they were a 42A assigned to the Division HQ at the VBC. That guy got taco bell and burger king everyday. I usually reply with something to the effect of this, "not really. I wasn't as bad ass as you and in all that danger. I was only an infantry squad leader in southern Baghdad. I have it easy compared to what you went through."

I've got an uncle claiming 100% disability for PTSD that he picked up in fake combat watching his fake buddies die on fake missions he never went on. He's a real winner. Of course, if you ask him, he's Rambo's more badass cousin. It's like he thinks nobody would simply ask his CO or look up his service record.

At my old VA we had a guy in the PTSD Dom for basic training. And he wasn't afraid to admit how hard he had it compared to everyone else.

I've seen the real and the real fake. If the flaugers only knew the struggle. Smh

YEP
The end.
LOL

Unfortunately I have. I tried to be reasonable with that person. Didn't work as well as I had hoped.

Great topic of discussion. I have met the PTSD drama queen. I'm not an expert on PTSD but I think there are levels of PTSD.

I have been diagnosed with it, and I tell people that I have. I don't go overboard with it or go into details - I tell people only because I see one or two in the unit I am speaking with that you can almost tell also have it. It's just the look in their eyes that pretty much spell it out to me. Without going straight up to them and putting them on the spot, I just share my story to let them know that getting help doesn't make you less of a man or woman, less of an Airmen or Soldier, etc, and won't hurt your career (I still have my Top Secret and am currently a full time acting First Sgt).

Yes, I've met the types that need to tell everyone at all times that they have it, use it as an advantage to get out of duties, etc. Like any other segment of society - you're going to have bad eggs in every bunch. Do what ya gotta do. I've had commanders ask if they were profiled from doing certain duties because of it, and when the answer was no (it was always no), then they were ordered to fulfill the duty. That usually shut those few up real quickly.