Posted on Jun 30, 2015
PTSD sign for Forth of July: Are we going to far?
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Lately I have seen this pop up way too much. First, I have a serious issue with those that claim PTSD for little more watching a movie or hearing a war story. This website that makes the PTSD sign was called out by, http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=60565 , for making up PTSD claims. To make it worse this guy is making money by selling these signs.
I don't need to share my experience with PTSD. I have rode that ride. If you run into a guy claiming how bad their PTSD is then you will often find one that is embellishing or bagging for attention. It isn't think that I like to bring up and when I do it is with the ones that know what it is like.
Now a days many Veterans want to be put on a pedestal. I don't want your sympathy or your sorrow. I just want to be like everyone else, a productive citizen. I don't need to be treated with soft gloves or some preference. I didn't ask for that and I don't expect it.
These signs are doing more harm than good. It makes people think that you can't even make a loud sound around a Vet without them snapping. If fireworks are really an issue then I would ask you to seek hope and visit your neighbors in person and let them know if your concerns. What I don't want is to ruin my neighbors weekend by preventing them to celebrate it how they seem fit.
Do you have one of these signs? Are they really just a grab for attention? Is it be or are we glorifying our veteran status? Last of all, how many of these veterans do you think are exaggerating their PTSD claims? I have seen my share of some serious cases. I have never known one to put up a PTSD sign in their yard or advertise their PTSD.
I don't need to share my experience with PTSD. I have rode that ride. If you run into a guy claiming how bad their PTSD is then you will often find one that is embellishing or bagging for attention. It isn't think that I like to bring up and when I do it is with the ones that know what it is like.
Now a days many Veterans want to be put on a pedestal. I don't want your sympathy or your sorrow. I just want to be like everyone else, a productive citizen. I don't need to be treated with soft gloves or some preference. I didn't ask for that and I don't expect it.
These signs are doing more harm than good. It makes people think that you can't even make a loud sound around a Vet without them snapping. If fireworks are really an issue then I would ask you to seek hope and visit your neighbors in person and let them know if your concerns. What I don't want is to ruin my neighbors weekend by preventing them to celebrate it how they seem fit.
Do you have one of these signs? Are they really just a grab for attention? Is it be or are we glorifying our veteran status? Last of all, how many of these veterans do you think are exaggerating their PTSD claims? I have seen my share of some serious cases. I have never known one to put up a PTSD sign in their yard or advertise their PTSD.
PTSD
Fireworks
4th of July
Celebration
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 18
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It seems to me that if you do suffer from PTSD, you should take measures to prevent yourself from being adversely affected by fireworks instead of telling others that they should tone down their 4th of July celebrations. Isn't putting a sign in your front yard about your suffering from PTSD tantamount to your immediate family having to "walk on egg shells" around you?
On another note... If you didn't already hear... the EPA is now looking into the long term health implications of using fireworks.
On another note... If you didn't already hear... the EPA is now looking into the long term health implications of using fireworks.
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It starts to look like an appeal for attention. Look at me, I have PTSD. I am a veteran, I deserve special consideration and accommodation or I might go off on someone. Honestly. These kind of images being blasted across the internet only reinforce negative stereotypes of veterans as unstable and kooky.
I would challenge anyone that put one of these out and certainly wouldn't curtail any fireworks I might have planned.
I would challenge anyone that put one of these out and certainly wouldn't curtail any fireworks I might have planned.
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CPT (Join to see)
That is what I fear. It is like when they have a special offer for combat vets and all of a sudden everyone was there when baghdad fell.
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I think people need to keep in context that there are various "stressors" that can lead to PTSD for Service Members/Veterans. Symptomology and triggers vary as well, not every Combat Vet is going to trigger off of loud sounds/explosions/thunder.
While some may be using the signs to get attention, I think it is a legitimate appeal for some consideration of their personal ordeal/hell.
Although I have to agree that most of the people that will even admit they have PTSD will rarely talk about it with someone that doesn't have similar experiences, let alone advertise it to the world (other than maybe a dysfunctional Veteran T-Shirt).
While some may be using the signs to get attention, I think it is a legitimate appeal for some consideration of their personal ordeal/hell.
Although I have to agree that most of the people that will even admit they have PTSD will rarely talk about it with someone that doesn't have similar experiences, let alone advertise it to the world (other than maybe a dysfunctional Veteran T-Shirt).
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CPT (Join to see)
Don't you think actually talking to your neighbors about it would be better? If that set me off I might to a place where it wouldn't be noticed. But if it has been ten years since one has left the military and they are still struggling with this we should seek and not a sign. There are a lot of issues that aren't getting solved. How can a person avoid loud noise for the rest of their life.
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PO1 Dustin Adams
CPT (Join to see) - I agree, communication with neighbors would probably help. Maybe he is too embarrassed to talk face to face thus the sign, there could be several factors including attention seeking.
If someone's life is being controlled by their symptoms they really should seek help, it is reported that 22 Veterans a day commit suicide (though they may not all have PTSD). I try to let my circle of Veteran/Active Duty friends know that I am always available if they need help or just want to talk, but still lost several already this year to suicide.
If someone's life is being controlled by their symptoms they really should seek help, it is reported that 22 Veterans a day commit suicide (though they may not all have PTSD). I try to let my circle of Veteran/Active Duty friends know that I am always available if they need help or just want to talk, but still lost several already this year to suicide.
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SFC Wesley Arnold, Jr
So someone wants to advertise they have PTSD ... but that it doesn't define them. We don't always criticize someone for their financial situation by the car they drive, or any other ailments they may have. Those that are close to me know, and if I feel someone else needs to know I tell them. I don't start telling war stories that are the cause of my PTSD, just that I have it.
I'm a little offend by the t-shirt post ... not for the content but the inaccuracy of the information; "I may or may not have incurable case of PTSD". You either have it or you don't it doesn't just go away, it just becomes more manageable.
I'm a little offend by the t-shirt post ... not for the content but the inaccuracy of the information; "I may or may not have incurable case of PTSD". You either have it or you don't it doesn't just go away, it just becomes more manageable.
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This may come as a surprise here on RP but there are actually some documented cases of PTSD related to situations other than the military and there is finally some progress available for services for those that need help. Let's not return to the days when the mental asylums were closed and people who could not function outside of a hospital setting were loosed on the street. We are now building jails instead to house the mentally ill. With that said, the original sign was a request for courtesy, not a demand for a ban. If a person feels they need to have one on their property, it is his/her choice. Courtesy can be as simple as neighbors having a block party and spreading a start time. The people who view the sign also have a choice, to be courteous and not aim their fireworks directly at the house or ignore it. It's a sign. The signs I generally choose to interpret loosely are the speed limit signs on some of the longer stretches of highway. I think of them as suggestions.
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CPT (Join to see)
I am sure there are other reasons why a veteran can get PTSD. But the kind of PTSD that is triggered by loud noises is usually developed by being in actual combat and not by just being in a combat zone. I would really like to know how many people, who have this sign out in their yard, have actually engaged the enemy in combat. I know plenty of vets that have been in some bad situations. I know some that have walked away from a fight when their comrades didn't. I have never seen one have a sign like this. The one person that I know that spoke about getting a sign like this was a support soldier that never left their FOB or seen a real casualty. I am not sure if just being in a place qualifies for PTSD. If that is the case then everyone in Chicago would have PTSD.
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CPT (Join to see) I understand your position and think it has validity. We fight for Americans to have freedom. However, I also believe there are veterans with real PTSD issues that should be considered. Those involved in explosions and IEDs, I can also certainly understand where they may be setback with the noises, lights, and starling nature associated with fireworks.
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I think this is unfair, not every is this guy or that guy or that lady, people experience it in different ways, to say it can all be solved by "sucking it up" just isn't true.
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CPT (Join to see)
I didn't think it necessarily about sucking it up but about getting the help you need to not let PTSD control you. When I first got back from OIF 1 I had some issues. But I had to address them. I couldn't let them dictate my 4th of july for the rest of my life.
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Cpl Clinton Britt
I agree LCpl, I constantly have to remind myself that everyone isnt ME and doesnt think or feel the way I do
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just like drive-by weather repairmen. scam artists see an angle & they are going to take it. despicable!
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SSgt (Join to see)
The TI yelled at me w/ extra spittle during Zero Week, so I have extreme PTSD & 150% disability. Ugh, posers...
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TSgt Joshua Copeland
SSgt (Join to see), you laugh...but I actually know someone that is getting VA disability for PTSD due to "mental abuse" received when they washed out of....wait for it....AIR FORCE basic training.
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SSgt (Join to see)
For that level of mental abuse suffrage, that particular person must've run the entire squadron out of 341s!
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