How have you dealt with PTSD?

It was tough for a long time, especially the for the amount of time I didn't even realize I had it. My wife finally got me to go to see a Doc about it. I've been through immersion therapy and that seemed to help a little bit like I told my doc, it's something that will never go away and I will never stop thinking about it. I don't take meds. The thing that has helped me the most was a program up where I live called Saratoga War Horse. It puts retired racing horses with a veteran and you "connect" with that horse through a specialized process. Hard to explain and it is a different experience for everyone but I highly recommend it. Check them out on Facebook and online. It has become a tool that I use to cope with things at any given time.

I found that a feeling of usefulness helped greatly. I tried to return to my old job when returning from deployment. I was met with boredom, loneliness & depression. I went back to school & got my EMT & everyday at work is therapy.

Yes I know I have been dealing with PTSD for 45 years. I also know a WW2 vet who has dealt with PTSD for also 70 years. Here is the three things I have learned over the years while attending individual and group counseling at the VA.
1) I am not alone and most people in society will never understand (and some degree that includes family members). But being in the company of other (PTSD) vets they get it.

2) most counsellors will never get it but doesn't mean they can help because they are there to help us to teach us to manage are PTSD. There are 100 forms of PTSD.

3) I will never get rid of PTSD if I manage it well it will only bother me 10% of the time. Not 70 or 80% of my time. Lastly to manage my PTSd there are three elements.

A) Proper diagnosis (both clinical review and hard phyiscal data conducted by "The National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" only 7 of them located with the VA system.

B) proper medication I spend a year working with a physic. nurse to get it totally right.

C) proper treatment that has been my greatest struggle because the VA is overload with PTSD cases and is always changing how treatment is metered out.

So there is my three cents worth of my opinion.

You can beat it back with the right method.

SP-4 Philip Bienvenue
5th Infantry Division (DMZ)
November 1969 thru November 1970

My first command CV-64 in 1977 we were on West Pac when we lost a F-14 from 30,000ft, pilot and RIO could not eject, cockpit was on fire as they spiraled to their deaths, in the 1980s I was involved in a vehicular head on collision, June - November 1988 onboard LPD-8 with COMINEWARGRU One embarked, we identified and destroyed 128 mines in the Persian Gulf, June 15, 1991 Mt Pinatubo volcanic eruption - thankfully it went vertical for 80,000 ft, I only lived 14 miles away, February 18, 1992 I had a bad bicycle accident hitting a curb head on thrown over the handle bars and slammed into a concrete sidewalk I came to when an ambulance backed up to me, December 1997 Super Typhoon Paka 232Mph winds, only to retire from the Navy after 20 1/2 years, come home and watched helplessly as a large oak tree kicked back knocking my father off a ladder and landing across his mid section, his chest, and crushing his temple area. He was gone. I was a basket case for three months, with a wife and a 6 month old infant, I distanced myself from everyone, especially loved ones. I hated sleep, by closing my eyes the tree falling and killing my father constantly replayed in slow motion.

It was only when I took to public speaking, sharing my testimony in church, crying like a baby along the way, was I able to process everything I had endured up to this point. Today, as Executive Director in a County Veterans Service Office, I assist veterans in filing disability claims with the VA, and have for over 15 1/2 years. I am blessed with the fact I did everything without medical services, no mind altering drugs, no counseling, just telling my life story, after several months, I was able to share without the tears, and work with veterans to help them obtain the benefits and medical services they have earned. Today I am at peace, my son is a senior in HS and looking forward to college, and the lovely wife and I will have been married for 19 years come December 28th. Life is good! God Bless you all for all that you do!

Our VA has made getting treatment for PTSD a two edged sword. At what point does getting treatment strip you of your 2nd amendment right? Don't get me wrong, if a patient is talking of suicide or harming others, by all means, keep a gun out of their hand. But that is not what has happened. Thousands of Vet's have lost their 2nd amendment right simply because they fell under the very large umbrella of PTSD treatment, at the same time We The People are experiencing a very anti-gun administration. So how many Vet's are reluctant to seek treatment because of this very unfair, Need to Report Law???

I am lucky enough to not have PTSD but I do battle depression every day... I do it with out benefit of medication... It is not easy and some days are better than others.

Here's my story, some things omitted due to graphical nature of incidents.

http://m.journaltimes.com/ptsd-a-firefighter-s-story/article_47da0904-9605-5ffd-9198-61f153224eb6.html?mobile_touch=true

Thankfully, I don't have it. BUT - POST 9/11 active duty troops and vets - if you have PTSD, and don't want to use the Military or VA for this, contact us at the Soldier's Project - http://www.thesoldiersproject.org - we provide free counseling by licensed or authorized mental health providers, for Post 9/11 vets and active duty.

I deal with mine every day. Learning tools to dispense with the impact is important, because it never goes away. The sooner we can put our tools to work, the faster we contain the impact.

By sucking it up and driving on!! Yeah, there was some horrible sights in war, but we all knew that out the gate, so I don't let it drive me or my life, surely folks didn't think a war zone was all candy and balloons